Crock Pot Cranberry Apple Butter is an easy, no sugar fruit spread for toast, biscuits, muffins, and scones, and the color is guaranteed to brighten up your day!
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.
for apple cranberry butter you’ll need
- 5 or 6 apples
- You can use any type of apple you like, and there is no need to peel them, just remove the core and seeds.
- and a bag of fresh cranberries
- (one 12 ounce bag is about 3 cups of berries) frozen is also fine. 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.
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.
simple step by step
- 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.
you asked…
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.
I couldn’t locate a university extension-published recipe specifically for cranberry butter, so I don’t recommend canning this fruit butter.
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’.
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Cranberry Apple Butter
Video
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
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.
Can I double this recipe
Doubling will technically work but be aware that it will take much longer.
I made this around Thanksgiving and LOVED it. I am making more for Christmas gifts and some would want the honey…when do you add that and how much?
I would go by taste Christina, add about 1/4 cup and go from there. You can always add more toward the end of cooking.
This is fantastic! I’ve never made anything like it so I was a little frightened, but it was so easy! I love that the only sweetener is honey – guilt free yumminess!
This is in the 2nd phase of my crock pot…smells amazing! I used my immersion blender…so easy! Looking forward to the finished product!
yum!
Also, can pumpkin butter be canned?
It’s not recommended to can pumpkin butter Rebecca, it’s not acidic enough. You’d need a commercial canner to do that.
Can cranberry-apple butter be canned, like apple butter?
I am definitely going to make this Sue because I love everything cranberry. I make cranberry ketchup every year. Thank you for the recipe.
Cranberry ketchup? It’s now on my list to try, yum!
What is the best apple to use? Granny Smiths will be tart, red delicious might be too mushy or sweet, and I don’t really know what I said best with a tart berry like cranberries? Suggestions please?
I used Granny Smiths and it turned out wonderfully.
Salish variety are available right now in BC.
I would love to make some of your fruit butter recipes and give them as gifts. But I can’t guarantee the recipients will refrigerate them promptly. Can they be processed further in a canning process to ensure they remain safe?
Some of my recipes are formulated for canning, but they need to have a certain acidity level for safety, so I can’t always advise canning. Check out my crock pot cranberry butter, which can be ‘canned’ here:https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/minimal-monday-crock-pot-cranberry-butter/
I made some on the weekend, turned out really nice. I didn’t add any honey but I did tell the people I gave it to that they could add it if they wanted. One friend said she served it with pork, she called it fancy applesauce! 🙂
It would be so good with pork 🙂