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Lots of people love apple butter because of how versatile it can be. This is something that can make for a scrumptious part of a dessert dish, but it’s also something that you could use to make other things more delicious.

It isn’t unusual to see people stirring a bit of apple butter into a bowl of oatmeal to spice things up. People often use it as a pancake topping as well because of how nicely the two food items go together.

If you like making your own, then it’s probably going to be annoying when you have a batch that just doesn’t turn out right. Thin apple butter just isn’t as satisfying, and you might be wondering if there is a way you can fix it.

Keep reading to learn about the best ways to thicken apple butter so that you can get the results that you want. As long as you follow the advice below, it should be possible to save the apple butter that you made.

Remove the Lid From the Pan

You might have been keeping the lid on the pan while you were making the apple butter. Lots of people choose to do this in an effort to try to keep as much flavor in it as possible.

However, this can actually go wrong because you could wind up getting too much moisture trapped in there. The excess moisture isn’t allowed to escape when the lid is on tightly, and this can cause your apple butter to turn out runny.

To alleviate this, you’ll want to remove the lid from the pan at a certain point in time. As long as you do this, it’s unlikely that your apple butter will turn out runny.

You want to keep the moisture issue in mind every single time you’re making apple butter from here on out. You need to remove that lid from the pan at some point or it’ll continue to be thin and runny.

Fixing Apple Butter That’s Already Been Made

What if you already made the apple butter, though? Well, there is something that you can try that should work out.

It might be possible to hit the reset button if you go ahead and puree it using a blender. This can help you to mix the moisture with the solid parts of the apple butter more evenly.

After you’ve done this, you’re going to keep simmering it on top of the stove. Keep checking it every 15 minutes or so to determine if the texture is correct.

You can actually check to see how the apple butter is doing by taking a small spoonful of it out. If you have paper plates that you can utilize, you can place the spoonful on a paper plate.

When things are turning out properly, you shouldn’t notice any water seeping around the edges of the apple butter that you spooned onto the plate. All you need to do is keep simmering it until you have the right consistency that you desire.

Many people have used this method, and it seems to work well on apple butter that has recently been made. If it’s been sitting around for too long, you might not get good results.

Regardless, it’s good to know that if you made a mistake, it’s not that hard to correct things. If you kept the lid on the pan too long and need to do a course correction, this method is here for you.

Don’t Be Impatient

Another issue that people encounter when making apple butter for the first time is that they try to finish things up too fast. If you’re using a traditional apple butter recipe, you should note that most call for it to cook for a long time.

Many apple butter recipes say that the apple butter should cook for hours, and it’s recommended to cook the apple butter slowly. You might have the best luck when cooking it at a low heat setting for many hours.

When in doubt, it’s going to be best to consult the specific recommendations of the recipe that you wish to follow. Try to follow it to the letter so that you don’t make any mistakes.

If you’re getting impatient, then trying to speed things up could lead to mixed results. You might make the apple butter turn out a bit thin if you try to rush things, and it’s really best to just do it the right way.

Remember That Apple Butter Should Thicken as it Cools

It’s also crucial to remember that apple butter should thicken up a bit as it cools down. If you haven’t waited until it cools, you might be prematurely thinking it’s too thin when it’s not.

If the apple butter appears to be fairly thick, you might be wondering why it seems to run off of the spoon when you’re picking it up. This isn’t too unusual, and many apple butter recipes are like this until they cool properly.

You might even see that the apple butter has a similar consistency to applesauce at first, but this can change as it cools. Once it has cooled substantially, it should be a lot different, and it will no longer run off of a spoon as it did before.

Essentially, you might need to take a wait-and-see approach to see if you actually made a mistake. If you didn’t mess up by keeping the lid on the pan too long, you might just need to wait things out a bit.

Enjoy Your Apple Butter

You have learned what it takes to make apple butter turn out thick. Thickening the apple butter is mostly about ensuring that you go through the steps right.

So long as you’re cooking it slowly, taking the lid off of the pan, and allowing it to cool properly, everything should be fine. Just enjoy your delicious apple butter and know that your efforts have been worth it.

Sarah Bridenstine

Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.