I’ve made a lot of jams and preserves, this year especially, but never attempted butter. When my friend came over a few weeks back with her homemade apple and peach butters, I was jealous and inspired all at once. I figured apple butter was a natural choice, considering the 75lbs of apples I picked, but after looking at the time commitment, I figured, let’s start easy. I’ve already talked shouted about my love for cranberries, so after finding a nice quick recipe, I figured why not?

One thing I’ve learned about canning is the amount of sugar you add (or subtract) doesn’t usually alter the acid level of the recipe. In practically any recipe I make, I always cut the sugar, especially when it comes to baking. I hate super sweet things. As for the cranberries, the reason I love them is for that biting tartness. Now don’t get me wrong, I know they need some sugar (drink 100% cranberry juice and you’ll know what I mean), but just a little. I cut the sugar and maple syrup by about half. I also doubled the recipe. I also cut the cinnamon to preserve the pure cranberry flavor. While the original recipe claimed a yield of 3 cups, I ended up with just over 4 cups, after doubling it. Overall, I found my cooking times to be much shorter than the recipe calls for, so not really sure how it reduced so much. Oh well, tasty either way.

Cranberry Butter (Adapted from Preserving Summer’s Bounty) Makes 4+ cups

• 10 c cranberries
• 2/3 c apple juice
• 3/4 c maple syrup (down from 1 c in original recipe)
• 1/3 c sugar (down from 1 c in original recipe)

In a large pot combine cranberries and juice, cooking until cranberries burst and are soft (about 10 minutes).

Puree cranberries in a blender or food processor. Put cranberries back in pot and add maple syrup and sugar. Cook 10-15 minutes until thickened.

Spoon into clean, not half pint jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

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