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–+ servings
maple cranberry jam in a jar

Maple Cranberry Butter in 15 minutes!

5 from 15 votes
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.
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Prep Time:5 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Total Time:15 minutes
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.
    rinsed cranberries in a Dutch oven
  • Stir in the maple syrup.
    cranberries with 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.
    cooked cranberries for cranberry butter
  • 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.
    scraped out pan for cranberry butter
  • 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.
    blender with cranberry butter
  • 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.
    jars filled with cranberry butter

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.
Canning safety for maple cranberry butter: from an acid/safety standpoint this combination of ingredients is appropriate for boiling-water canning. But I couldn’t locate a university extension-published recipe specifically for maple cranberry butter, though plenty of evidence shows cranberry spreads/high-acid fruit butters have been canned safely when following fruit-puree or fruit-butter water-bath canning methods.
Follow the guidance of the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
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Course: condiment
Cuisine: American
Author: Sue Moran
Keyword: cranberries, fall, preserves, Thanksgiving

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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