Silky doesn’t even begin to describe this sweet tart cranberry butter, you’ll want to scoop it, spread it, slather it, dollop it, and definitely, definitely, lick the spoon. It’s a luscious cross between lemon curd and cranberry sauce that goes on everything from toast and biscuits to turkey sandwiches.
maple cranberry butter is instant gratification in the most delicious way
It’s possibly the most satisfying 15 minutes you’ll spend in your kitchen all season. Pull out a pot, a couple of ingredients (2 to be exact) and get those clean jars ready…you’ll be filling them in just minutes with the most cranberry-licious fruit spread. You’ll have plenty of time afterwards to dream about how you’ll use it…
the 2 ingredients you’ll need for maple cranberry butter
- cranberries (2 bags, or 24 ounces) you can use fresh or frozen berries for this fruit butter.
- maple syrup ~ the real deal, of course. Maple syrup sweetens the tart butter without the need for refined sugars.
helpful equipment
- a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven ~ a larger size with a broad base is useful because the cranberries will cook down quicker. A heavy bottom helps prevent the butter from scorching.
- a high speed blender or food processor ~ a high speed blender is so powerful it turns the cooked cranberries into silky butter in no time. It’s one of the reasons I love my Vitamix blender so much. A food processor is not quite as powerful and so you may be left with a little bit more texture in your butter. In that case you can push it through a strainer if you like.
3 simple steps to make cranberry butter
- Rinse and place cranberries and maple syrup in a large heavy pan.
- Bring to a boil, and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped and the mixture has thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
- Let cool slightly and then puree in a blender or food processor until silky.
how you can use cranberry butter?
So now you’ve got this stunningly beautiful smoothy jammy cranberry butter and you’re wondering what to do with it? Here are just a few of the ways I’ve used it, but I’m sure you’ll come up with some creative ideas of your own.
- Slather it on TOAST, ENGLISH MUFFINS, BISCUITS, or SCONES.
- Use it as a SANDWICH SPREAD (fabulous with turkey.)
- Swirl it into YOGURT OR OATMEAL.
- Bake with it ~ it makes a great filling for THUMBPRINT COOKIES or a SHORTBREAD TART.
- Mix it into a COCKTAIL.
- Serve it as part of your next CHEESE BOARD.
- Definitely put some on your holiday tables, either in addition to, or in place of CRANBERRY SAUCE.
go ahead, buy that extra bag of cranberries!
- Cranberry Breakfast Cake!
- Fresh Cranberry Muffins
- Scandinavian Rice Pudding with Cranberries
- Cranberry Cleanse Smoothie
- Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Crumble Tart with Cranberry Whipped Cream
Maple Cranberry Butter in 15 minutes!
Silky doesn't even begin to describe this sweet tart cranberry butter, you'll want to scoop it, spread it, slather it, dollop it, and definitely, definitely, lick the spoon. It's a luscious cross between lemon curd and cranberry sauce that goes on everything from toast and biscuits to turkey sandwiches.
Servings: 4 cups
Equipment
- large saucepan
- high speed blender or full sized food processor
Ingredients
- 24 ounces fresh cranberries (that's two 12-ounce bags)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup. You can substitute brown sugar if you like.
Instructions
- Rinse the cranberries and put them in a large heavy saucepan or pot. A Dutch oven works well.
- Stir in the maple syrup.
- Bring the mixture up to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat down a bit and boil the berries for about 5-10 minutes, until they pop open, soften, and the mixture starts to thicken from the natural pectin in the berries. Stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Note: watch out for those popping berries, they can spit and the mixture is hot.
- Let the cranberry sauce cool a little bit and then transfer to a high speed blender like a Vitamix, or a full sized food processor.
- Process until completely smooth and silky. Note: if your mixture is still hot, take care to cover the top of your machine with a dishcloth to prevent any of the hot mixture erupting.
- At this point my butter was thick and spreadable. If yours is a little looser, you can put it back in your cleaned out saucepan and cook down a little further until it is as thick as you like it. Remember fruit butter thickens further as it chills in the refrigerator.
- Spoon the finished cranberry butter into clean jars, let cool, and then cap and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks to a month.
Notes
- This is a tart jam. If you like lemon curd you will probably love this. If you prefer things a little sweeter you can fiddle with the amount of maple syrup, or simply substitute sugar. You can use up to 1 1/2 cups.
- For another take on cranberry butter, see my Crock Pot Cranberry Butter recipe.
- For a less tart version, see my Crock Pot Apple Cranberry Butter.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 Tbsp · Calories: 26 kcal · Carbohydrates: 7 g · Protein: 1 g · Fat: 1 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Sodium: 1 mg · Potassium: 28 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 5 g · Vitamin A: 9 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 9 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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Hi Sue, I want to can this recipe for Christmas gifts and would like to ask how long will it keep after canning and they don’t need to be refrigerated, right?
Thank you for any help you can give me; I appreciate it.
I’ve made many of your cranberry recipes and all were DELICIOUS!!
As long as you follow safe canning practices, yes. If you’ve never canned before I recommend checking a reliable source like Ball, for instance.
Many thanks, Sue! I am use to canning but have never canned curd before.
Can’t wait to try it!!
Just to clarify, it’s not safe to can curd, but you can can this butter!
Although I don’t have a high speed blender, I decided to give this a try–and so GLAD I did! DELIGHTFUL! The immersion blender left it less smooth than yours, but still really wonderful. Had to exercise some serious self control to not just grab a spoon and sail right into that jar. Thank you!
This is the easiest jam I have ever made and yes, I was licking the spoon. This would make great xmas gifts! Thanks for this great recipe!
Can you freeze this??
Yes, it will freeze fine.
Sensational! So easy! And good enough that I’ll be giving small jars to friends at Christmas. Since I live in Michigan, I get to use local maple syrup, which just makes it even better.
Great recipe. It was wonderful on pancakes and toast. A keeper.
Wow! This is delicious and so easy! I’ll be canning it for holidays gifts this year. Thanks for a delightful recipe!
Would this be too tart in a homemade pop tart? It sounds delicious and would love to make a baked gift with it.
It’s tart, but pleasantly so, and I think it would make an epic pop tart!
Sue, can this cranberry butter be prepared, refrigerated and then removed to be packed for shipping to be sent via UPS ground that would take two to three days and still be safe to consume?
Gosh Ellen, I really don’t know. If you canned it, then yes. I would do a little googling on that one. My guess is that it would be ok, but I can’t be sure, sorry.
I’m wondering if a monk fruit maple syrup or monk fruit brown sugar would work.
Yes, just about any sweetener will work.