Sugar-Free Apple Butter

This sugar-free apple butter is a delicious and versatile alternative to jam. Perfect for toast, pancakes, waffles, and oatmeal.

There’s a moment at the beginning of each fall when giant, gorgeous heaps of multicolored apples seem to overshadow pretty much every other thing at the farmers market. It’s this punctuation in time, when the sun is still strong yet the air is crisp, and the apples smell really good, that you realize you’re pretty ready to transition into the next season.

It’s at this time that I tend to buy too many said apples. Which is an issue for one tiny reason: Rene and I don’t actually like eating them.

I mean, they’re pretty fun when dipped into peanut butter or added to a crunchy salad. But we’re not the kind of people who happily munch on apples during snack time. Thus, apple butter is the perfect solution for using up too many apples.

The Technique

You start this sugar-free apple butter by rounding up two pounds of apples. I’ve made it with all types of apples (sweet, tart, mealy, crisp, etc.) and they all work well.

The greatest part is that the apples don’t need to be peeled – their skins disintegrate almost entirely into the sauce! – which is a big time-saver. This also means the apples hold on to all the fiber and micronutrients in the skin.

You chop the apples and cook them with a bit of water and spices until they’re saucy and broken down. Then you puree them, return the sauce to the pot, and continue cooking to concentrate that apple flavor. The resulting apple butter is sweet and tart, velvety smooth, and fragrant from the spices.

I like the combo of cinnamon and nutmeg here, but you could also play around with cardamom, cloves, ginger, lemon zest, or pre-mixed pumpkin spice.

In case you’re wondering, there’s no actual butter in “apple butter”. And what makes it different from applesauce is its thicker, more spreadable texture, and more concentrated apple flavor.

I’m not sure how “traditional” this recipe is and I don’t think it matters. Most of the recipes I see online use obscene amounts of sugar (upwards of 4 cups!!!), which is so unnecessary. I find that apples have plenty of their own sweetness, especially as it caramelizes in the sauce.

Serving Suggestions

Sugar-free apple butter is delicious on buttered sourdough toast, fluffy pancakes, waffles, and oatmeal. You can also use it in desserts like linzer bars and thumbprint cookies.

You should also check out…

• Avocado Gingerbread Loaf Cake
• Magical No-Churn Banana Coconut Ice Cream
• Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
• Sugar-Free Date Brownies

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Give it a rating below and leave a comment, and don’t forget to tag your creation with #TheNewBaguette and @thenewbaguette on Instagram.

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