Crock Pot Cranberry Apple Butter is an easy, no sugar fruit spread for toast, biscuits, muffins, and scones, it’s also perfect for holiday gift giving!
cranberry apple butter is an extra special fall treat.
Apple butter is such a fall staple. And I’m sure you already know that there’s no butter in it at all, just fresh apples that have been cooked down and pureed into a thick spread. But did you know you can also make Pumpkin Butter? And Bourbon Banana Butter? And Peach Butter? I love to experiment, and today I mixed cranberries with apples to make fabulously tart cranberry apple butter that I think you’re going to love. The flavor (and color!) is unique and wonderful. This is easy to make, so gather up some small jars and think about making a few extra batches for holiday gifts.
TIP: Fresh cranberries are sold in 12-ounce bags from late September through December in grocery stores — you can’t get them at any other time of the year, so grab extra and freeze them. Just put them straight into the freezer as is, in their original bags, they’ll last up to a year. Cranberries are low in calories, and high in vitamin C and anti-oxidants so they’re really good for you, especially when you eat them without added sugar.
You’ll need 5 or 6 apples and a bag of fresh cranberries for this butter (one 12 ounce bag is about 3 cups of berries.) You can use any type of apple you like, and there is no need to peel them, just remove the core and seeds.
TIP: This cranberry apple butter recipe is formulated for the crock pot, but you can certainly do it on the stove top as well. It won’t take as long, but it will require more ‘babysitting’.
Pile the fruit into the crock pot and cook on high for about 4 hours, giving the pot a stir now and then. Puree the softened mixture and then push through a strainer. This step removes any gritty bits and ensures a silky butter. Then back it goes into the rinsed out crock pot for a further couple of hours to thicken up to a spreadable consistency.
The natural sweetness of the apples offsets the tart cranberries, so I didn’t add any sugar to this at all. I recommend you give it a taste during the final stages of cooking, if it tastes too tart, just add some honey to sweeten it up. The same goes for the spices…I kept it minimal with a stick of cinnamon that lends a subtle hint of spice, but you can use more if you like.
TIP: This Crock Pot Cranberry Apple Butter will last up to a month in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the jars for up to a year: leave a little space at the top for expansion and set the jars right in the freezer after they’ve cooled down.
“Just made this. Its beautiful and delicious! Nothing to strain out after putting it in the Vitamix on high. Plan to enjoy it with gluten-free cinnamon swirl bread from LowCarbYum – looks like a perfect match! Thank you!”
Lisa
Cranberry Apple Butter
Equipment
- crock pot
Ingredients
- 5-6 apples
- 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries, they can be frozen and thawed
- 1 stick of cinnamon, or powdered cinnamon to taste
- honey, optional
Instructions
- Wash the apples well, and cut them into large chunks, discarding the core and seeds. Add to the crock pot.
- Rinse the cranberries and add them to the crock pot. Give the fruit a stir and then cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Give the pot a stir every once in a while to prevent sticking. If the mixture is sticking you can add a bit of water, but I didn’t have to, the natural juices of the fruit should be sufficient.
- Puree the softened fruit in a high speed blender or food processor, working in 2 batches.
- Push the puree through a mesh strainer with the back of a large spoon, Force the puree through, you should be left with just a light layer of solids. Rinse out the strainer between batches.
- Rinse out the crock pot and return the strained puree to the pot. Bury a stick of cinnamon into the puree. Cook on HIGH, uncovered, for another 2 hours, or until thick and spreadable, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. When the fruit has thickened, spoon it into clean glass jars. Let cool, and then cap and refrigerate. The butter will keep for 4 weeks in the refrigerator, or up to a year in the freezer. (If you plan to freeze, leave a little space at the top of each jar to allow for expansion.)
- Makes 2 1/2 cups
Video
Notes
- Another way to get a less tart result without adding any sweetener would be to use more apples and less cranberries, say 8 apples with 1/2 bag of cranberries.
- If you like things super tart, try my pure cranberry butter.
- If you don’t have a crock pot I highly recommend getting one…you don’t have to spend a lot, the base models are fine, and you will get a ton of use out of it. This is the one I’ve used for years.
That color is stunning! I so want to enjoy this gorgeous butter on my multigrain toast at breakfast!
I am SO excited about this recipe, Sue! I’ve got tons of family coming in for Thanksgiving in 10 days and this will be the perfect gift for them. Can you believe I just started using a crock pot in the last few months? haha! I’m not sure what my reluctance was but I feel like I’ve had a whole new world open up to me. I absolutely love the colour of these and the flavour must be amazing. Thank you!!
What a gorgeous color Sue! And I just love anything cranberry during the fall! I’ll definitely need to give this a try!
Thanks Mary Ann <3
What a beautiful color! I love cranberries, thankfully, as I think it’s required in Wisconsin 🙂 What a delicious twist and the standard apple butter.
I’m looking forward to being in Wisconsin in a few weeks, Susan, we’ll be visiting our daughter in Madison, I can’t wait!
Oooh, this looks great. Looks like it would be very refreshing!
I love the tartness of cranberries. They are such a welcome treat this time of year, and the vibrant color of this is intoxicating.
OMG, this looks so beautiful. I am sooooooo excited to try it!!
I can’t wait to try this, it’ll be perfect with all of the ripe apples from the tree in my yard!
This sounds great. I love that it is not overloaded with cloves and allspice (my pet peeve about most apple butter). I invented pumpkin butter for myself many years ago. I figured out the correct proportions using the spices my mother used for pumpkin pie. That stuff was so good, but unfortunately I now have no clue how I did it, not to mention the fact that I am no longer into canning.
I have a great crock pot pumpkin butter, Susan, (https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/crock-pot-pumpkin-butter/) you could use that as a starting point!
I love the adorable pinky colour!