12 Apple Butter-Licious Recipes

Ready to expand your love of apple butter past the biscuits and butter?  Here are 12 Apple Butter-licious Recipes to get you on your way...

You all love apple butter. There is no doubt about it. And how do I know?  ;) 

Here are the top Google search terms that are leading people to my blog presently...

Yep! You all do really love homemade apple butter... especially if it can be made in your crock pot or slow cooker. 

What my readers want, my readers get! :) I check often to see which searches and posts are most often bringing people to my blog time and time again.

Presently, my most popular post of the past two months has been my Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter...

Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding

Creamy, comforting rice pudding is jazzed up with apple butter & chunks of fresh apple in this easy to make Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding...

Since a good, home cooked risotto happens to be my favorite savory adult comfort food, then a creamy rice pudding has to be my ultimate sweet comfort food. But rice pudding wasn't a comfort food that I came to love as a child. Now my mama made this great quick version of rice pudding with a little leftover rice mixed with melted margarine & sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar. 

But the first time that I tried an honest for goodness homemade rice pudding was when I baked up a batch myself a few years after moving out of my parents' house. Yes, making rice pudding from scratch equals adulting when you are in your earlier 20's. ;) And thus began my love affair with creamy, comforting rice pudding.

But the thing with most homemade rice pudding recipes is that they require both stove top cooking & oven baking and thus twice the dirty dishes. Is it worth the extra effort and dish washing? Yes! 

But I knew there had to be a better way to whip a homemade rice pudding recipe that I would love without all the extra steps. My solution? The slow cooker- duh! ;) 

You literally just dump everything in, mix, and let the slow cooker do the rest. Now I jazzed up the basic rice pudding with spicy apple butter and chunks of fresh apple for this Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding I am sharing with you all today, but you could leave out the apple flavors for a classic creamy rice pudding (just increase the cinnamon to a 1/2 teaspoon)... 

Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Butter Donuts

These perfect for fall Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Butter Donuts are packed with the flavors of fresh apple & spiced apple butter...

Post updated 11/1/19- These perfect for fall Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Butter Donuts deserved some updated photos. I did leave one of the originals down below just so you all can see for yourself why this recipe so desperately needed a little face lift. ;)

We started a fall tradition 2 years ago after my husband and I got married.  Every year we visit a Pennsylvania farm about 2 hours away to spend the day, go apple picking, take hay rides, pick out pumpkins straight from the patch.... and eat these amazing apple cider donuts they sell there.

It is literally THE FIRST thing we do when we get there.  

We make a bee line for the stand where they sell them and pick up a bag because they always sell out before midday.  

They are that good.

A month or so ago, I picked up my first donut pan.  Ever since the day that pan came home with me, I had been dreaming of baking a donut in them that would be similar to those irresistible apple cider donuts from the farm.

Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter {A Recipe Makeover}

No need to stand over a pot stirring for hours to make perfectly spiced homemade apple butter. Let your slow cooker do all the work with this Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter...

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I originally published my recipe for this Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter in October of last year.  But I decided that it was time to give this recipe a makeover.  

I didn't really change anything about my original recipe, but I knew the photos desperately needed a makeover.  

I have learned so much in the past year about food styling, lighting, angles, and I knew I could do so much better for this tasty apple butter.  In fact, it deserved better. ;)

And because everyone loves to see before and after shots when we are talking about makeovers, here is one from my post almost a year ago...

Slow Cooker Apple Butter Pork Chops {A Recipe Makeover}

Tender pork chops are slow cooked all day with apples & spiced apple butter in these Slow Cooker Apple Butter Pork Chops- a definite meal plan must-add for fall time...

When I first started blogging in January of 2011, having stellar food photography wasn't even on my radar.  

As those of you who have actually stuck by me since the inception of my life as a blogger know, my blog started out as more of place for me to share my feelings and thoughts on our journey and struggles with secondary infertility. Those posts were peppered here and there with a recipe post or two. 

My very first recipe post didn't even have a photo with it! 

Gasp.

(And yes, I DID just link those words above to my very first recipe post ever. ;) Go ahead... click on over.  I know that you are curious.)

Homemade Apple Butter in the Crock Pot

Other than pumpkin flavored everything, nothing says fall more to me than some good, spiced apple butter.  Every fall a church close to my parents' house makes apple butter the slow, old fashioned way- outdoors, in cast iron kettles, over an open fire.  It is a tradition.  And quite literally some of THE BEST apple butter I have ever had.  Even when I lived out of state and couldn't make it back home when the annual apple butter was being made, my mother always went down and picked up a jar or two for me. ;)

This past week I had apples.  Like quite a few, and they were not going to stay good for too much longer.  I needed to do a little something with them.  Yes, I could have made an apple pie or maybe a crisp, but I have already done that at least 3 times so far this season. I needed a new idea.  And that is when I came across this recipe for a Crockpot Apple Butter from Cooking with K.  I had to make some of my own adjustments to it, but mainly based my recipe on hers. (By the way, take a few moments and peruse Cooking with K....  I guarantee you that a pinning frenzy will ensue. ;) )

What you will need:

8-10 apples- peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Cortlands.)

3/4 cup of apple juice (I did not have cider on hand, so I just upped my spices a little.)

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp allspice

3 whole cinnamon sticks (I am running low on ground cinnamon, but have a ton of cinnamon sticks in my pantry for some reason. :) )

This recipe is incredibly easy.  I mean, SUPER easy. Toss the chopped apples in the Crock Pot.  Then pour in the apple juice.  Dump in the brown sugar and the ground spices and then stir to mix.  Add your cinnamon sticks to the mixture.  Turn your Crock Pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours.  Every hour or so, stir the mixture to make sure the cinnamon is getting in there well.

After about 7 hours of slow cooking, this is what mine looked like ^^^.  Remove the cinnamon sticks and then blend the mixture in the Crock Pot.  If you have one of those fancy emulsion hand blenders, you can use that.  I just used my hand mixer. ;)  Blend it until it is the consistency that you prefer.

I opted to can my apple butter.  You could just put the butter into glass jars and refrigerate, but you would have to use it all within 2 weeks if you went that route.  

I canned mine by running my jars through the dishwasher right before I was ready to can the apple butter, and filled them while they were still hot.  I did a quick boil on my lids and rings.

I filled each jar leaving about a 1/2 inch of space at the top.  Make sure you use a non-metallic utensil to stir the butter and removed any air bubbles.  Once filled, put the lids on the jars and then the rings.  Only tighten the rings slightly.

Process in a water bath of slow boiling water for 15-20 minutes.  Allow the jars to sit in the water bath about 5 minutes after the processing is finished.  (You should start hearing those pings now! ;) )  

Let the jars rest on a dish towel or cooling rack on your counter for about 24 hours.  

This recipe made approximately 7-8 (4 oz.) jars.

Be looking for a recipe later this week that you can use your homemade apple butter in... :)

How about you?  What seasonal foods tell you that fall is officially here?

Cookie Butter Apple Crisp {For Two}

Cookie Butter Week is about to come to a close on the blog.  (Yes, I know... *sad face*.) We must all do this again some time very soon, don't you agree? ;)  Stay tuned for a Cookie Butter Week Recap post tomorrow morning. 

I will leave you with one final original recipe using cookie butter, my Cookie Butter Apple Crisps for Two.  Apple crisp and apple pie are my husband's absolute favorite desserts (well, along with carrot cake, cheesecake, and red velvet cake. ;) )You could easily double or triple this recipe for feeding larger crowds. 

This was my first go at baking in glass jars.  Have you all tried this before?  It is actually pretty cool.  You just have to make sure to place the jars in a baking pan with a little water in the bottom to prevent the glass from breaking.  

Cookie Butter Apple Crisp {For Two}

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients (2 servings)

For the apple filling

• 1 large apple (or 2 smaller apples), peeled, cored, and chopped
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 dashes of nutmeg

For the cookie butter crisp

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chilled butter, cubed
• 2 tbsp cookie butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the apples through the nutmeg for the apple filling. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the crisp topping. Cut in the chilled butter until the mixture is crumbly. Now mix in the cookie butter. Set aside.

Spray the insides of two 12 oz glass jars with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the apple filling between the two jars. Now top each jar with the cookie butter crisp dough.

Place both filled jars in a baking pan and fill with about an inch of water.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the apples are bubbly and the crisp topping is golden brown.

All to cool to warm before serving.

Top with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.

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These Cookie Butter Apple Crisps in jars were perfect for just the husband and I.  We have my son every other week, so there are evenings when desserts (and dinners) for two make sense for us.  When I do share one of my recipes meant for two, I try to make sure that the ingredient list can be easily double or tripled for larger families. :)

What has been your favorite new cookie butter recipe from me this past week?  Today's Cookie Butter Apple Crisp? Or....

My Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie?

My Cookie Butter Coconut Haystack Cookies?

My Cookie Butter Caramel Biscotti?

Thank you all for joining me this week for Cookie Butter Week and a HUGE thank you to each of the lovely bloggers who were featured in my Cookie Butter Recipe Round-Up posts this past week! :)

Slow Cooker Apple Butter Pork Chops

So last week I gave you all my recipe for a super easy, delicious Homemade Apple Butter in the Crock Pot.  Well, don't put those slow cookers away just yet! (I mean, wash it and everything, but don't shove it back into your cupboard. ;) )

This week I have a recipe for sweet & savory Slow Cooker Apple Butter Pork Chops.  Grab a jar of that homemade apple butter you made with me last week because you are going to need it for this recipe. 

What you will need:

4 pork chops (bone-in or boneless)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium apples (any kind), cored and chopped

1 cup apple butter

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup apple juice or cider (or white wine)

In a small bowl, whisk together the apple butter, brown sugar, vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and apple juice.  Set aside.

Place the apples and onions in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Add your pork chops on top and then pour the apple butter mixture all over this.

Cook on Low for 5-6 hours and voila! You have a hearty, tasty fall comfort dinner while you are away at work for the day or just lounging around the house on the weekend.  The pork just falls apart- no knife needed!  Just plate your pork chop and spoon a little of the apples and onions over top. This would be great served along side some homemade mashed potatoes or with a slice of my Spiced Pumpkin Ale Bread.  

Do you have a favorite fall comfort food you like to make in the Crock Pot?

Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Butter

Made with fresh pears & a pinch of cardamom, this Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Butter is a delicious way to celebrate the flavors of fall...

A few weeks ago, my grandmother called me to ask if I would be interested in taking any pears. A former neighbor of hers had called telling her how their pear trees in their yard were just overflowing with ripe fruit, and they hated to see all of it just fall to the ground and rot.  

So my grandmother had already planned to head over with my grandfather and do a little pear picking when she had called me.

Did I want some??  Ummmmm.. yeah!

Now what to do with an overabundance of pears?  Do what I do when I have a lot of apples after apple picking- make slow cooker fruit butter! :)

My Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter is my #2 all-time most viewed post, so I figured I couldn't go wrong by coming up with a pear version of my most popular slow cooker recipe. I kept most of the recipe the same, but tweaked a few of the spices.

Can I tell you all a secret?

I actually like this Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Butter better than my Crock Pot Apple Butter.

I know... gasp.

I really think it might be the different texture... and the addition of the cardamom.

Definitely the cardamom. ;)

Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie

 Tender apples, cinnamon, & gooey cookie butter come together perfectly in a flaky crust with a crunchy oat topping in this Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie...

Post updated 10/25/19- This crowd-pleasing Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie deserved some updated photos. I did leave one of the originals down below just so you all can see for yourself why this recipe so desperately needed a little face-lift. ;)

Okay, okay... I obviously need an intervention.  

Hello, I am Carrie and I am a cookie butter addict.

There. I said it. 

Need proof?  Remember when I dedicated an entire week on the blog just to cookie butter? ;) Yeah... there was that.

And I am not going to lie.  I have been pining away for fall because I KNOW that Biscoff (also known as cookie butter under some labels) is the perfect complimentary flavor to just about all of the popular fall flavors.

Pumpkin?  Heck yeah! (And yes, there will be recipes coming to the blog soon marrying our favorite orange gourd with our favorite non-peanut butter spread.)

Apples?  Of course!  

Apple Pie French Toast for One

This perfectly portioned for one Apple Pie French Toast takes just a handful ingredients and a few minutes to make in your microwave...

Okay, you all. I have another apple pie inspired recipe for you guys today! And yes, I am well aware that I just shared my Easy Apple Pie Trail Mix recipe with you all last week. ;) But you see, I have apple pie on the brain lately. 

I am totally craving the combo of sweet apples with cinnamon and sugar, but I am not quite ready to dive into full-on pie baking mode yet. Mostly because it still feels like summer here. Like in the 80's with some humidity. I definitely have no desire to kick on the oven and bake when I am still have to have the AC on pretty much all hours of the day. Where is the crisp fall weather at already?? Because I am SO ready for jeans and flannels, okay? 

Until the temperatures drop and it actually starts to feel like fall around here, I will satisfy my apple pie cravings without heating up the kitchen with this easy to make Apple Pie French Toast for One. This perfectly portioned for one french toast in a mug takes just a handful ingredients and a few minutes to make in your microwave...