InstantPot Apple Butter-Finding a FAST and EASY way to make Apple Butter

If you have followed our blog for any time at all you know I am PASSIONATE about giving homemade gifts and one of my favorite holiday gifts to give is Apple Butter. I love spending a whole day with one of my dear friends, Sally…but this year we are both busy with our wonderful grandkids.  Today I tried making a batch of apple butter in my InstantPot and it was FAST, EASY and DELICIOUS. Not that fast an easy can ever take the place of a fun day with my friend BUT for this year it is a nice alternative.

10-12 large apples (5 pounds)
¾ cup Trader Joes Spiced Apple Cider
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

One of the BEST things about this recipe is you DO NOT HAVE TO PEEL the apples.
Get out your InstantPot and cut large apples into 4 pieces leaving the peel on but discarding the core. Place all apples into InstantPot. Pour in apple cider and add brown sugar, spices and salt. Save th lemon juice until after the apples are cooked.
Put top on InstantPot with vent closed. Set on Manual for 15 minutes. When finished, let naturally vent for 15 minutes and then release the rest of the steam. While apples are cooking make sure to sterilize your jars and tops. When apples are finished, open the top and use an immersion blender to grind up the skins and pulverize the apples. Ladel the apple butter into jars and seal. If you do not seal in the hot apple butter, you must refrigerate and use within 10 days. Once sealed the apple butter will last for months. You can also freeze the apple butter if you can not use it up in 10 days.

So I have successfully pulled off a double Bucket List item….Find a quicker way to make apple butter when my friend and I are crazy busy with grandkids. Maybe next year we can do the IstantPot method with the grandkids. (The conventional method requires hours and hours and lots of stirring and hot sticky stuff everywhere. Granted, when Sally and I work together we use about 80 pounds of apples and make about 40 pints (80 cups)of apple butter and this batch used 5 pounds and made 5 pints (10 cups). So we would have to do 8 batches in the instantPot or do 8 pounds at once. Anyway, it was a fun activity and much safer if we want to involve the grandkids.