Cranberry Butter Recipe

This cranberry butter could be the best thing you eat all season!

Cranberry Butter is one of those fabulous treats that you get to enjoy only one time a year. That time when you see tons of extra lights around town, you hear holiday music on the radio and homemade smells are prolific in the kitchen.

Clean Eating Cranberry Butter Recipe

If you tend to shop big the way I do over the holiday season, you will inevitably have some fresh cranberries left over from Thanksgiving. That’s where this clean eating Cranberry Butter comes in. Not only do you keep those fabulous little berries from going bad, but you get to enjoy them on just about anything you can spread them on. I just love cranberries!

And if you are at a loss for what you would put this one, let me give you a hand…

  1. Morning toast
  2. Spread over a baked chicken or turkey breast.
  3. Dolloped over vanilla ice cream
  4. Blended with some oil and vinegar for a delicious cranberry vinaigrette

And those are just a few ideas! Really, this stuff is pretty versatile. Anything you like with cranberries, you can put this on and it will be delicious!

CRANBERRY RECIPES

FRUIT BUTTER RECIPES

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CRANBERRY BUTTER RECIPE:

Clean Eating Cranberry Butter Recipe

Cranberry Butter

Yep, it's as good as it looks! This delicious spread is yummy on everything from your morning toast to vanilla ice cream!
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Course: Condiments, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 96 servings (Makes six 8 oz. jars)
Calories: 26kcal
Author: Tiffany McCauley

Ingredients

  • 10 cups fresh cranberries
  • 2 cups honey
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients into a large pot.
  • Get everything hot over medium heat and then reduce the heat to low. Watch this process carefully as the mixture can boil up and cook over very quickly once it's hot.
  • As it cooks, stir constantly. The honey has a tendency to burn on the bottom of the pot if you don't.
  • Cook down by about a quarter of what's in the pot.
  • Ladle hot cranberry butter into canning jars and allow to cool with the lids off. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Freeze in small portions if desired.
  • Put lids on jars and place in the fridge.
  • NOTE: Not recommended for canning. Store in the fridge.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tbsp. | Calories: 26kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Potassium: 12mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted 12/23/10.

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44 Comments

  1. I also love cranberries, and have the apple juice-sweetened dried variety on hand throughout the year. For the holiday season, I enjoy using fresh cranberries to make whole berry cranberry sauce, and recently posted my recipe for unsweetened cranberry apple butter… which I have been eating on oatmeal, sandwiches, yogurt, etc. Your honey cranberry butter sounds delicious!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Lauren – Cranberries are fabulous! And so good for you too!

  2. Sanjeeta kk says:

    Love this butter, Tiffany. Would add a zing to my pancakes. Festive greetings to you and your family.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Sanjeeta – Yes! This would be excellent with pancakes! Especially buckwheat pancakes. Oh dear. Now I’m hungry for pancakes. Season’s greetings to you and yours as well!

  3. So a dutch oven for this recipe??

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Paulissa – Nope! I did this right in a pot. But a dutch oven would probably work too.

  4. Yum! I would love to slather this on a piece of fresh bread or toast. I love that you used honey in this, and not an overwhelming amount. Wonderful!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Roxan – Thanks! There is definitely a tart element to this butter. But I love cranberries, so it’s perfect for me. If it’s not sweet enough, you can always stir in more honey. But I find it really refreshing this way. Enjoy!

  5. We SOOOOOOO are going to make this for Christmas Morning breakfast!!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kim – It’s fabulous stuff! I recommend making it the day before though so it has plenty of time to cool in the fridge. Enjoy!

  6. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and an abundant New Year. 🙂

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Azucena – Thank you! Happy holidays to you and yours!

  7. Just made this…absolutely fabulous and sooooo easy!! I started making it and realized I didn’t have any honey, so I used agave instead. Tastes delish!! Thanks for the recipe!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Shefali – Wonderful! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I had to give most of it away because I couldn’t stop eating it! lol

  8. Hii someone just gave loads of chestnuts and I was wondering if I could make chestnut butter with them? I heard that chestnuts have less calories so it would be a great substitute for my beloved peanut butter 😀

    1. Anonymous says:

      Kylie – Oh boy. You’re asking the wrong person I’m afraid. I tried to work with chestnuts once before and to say it was a complete and utter disaster is a huge understatement! You might try googling “chestnut butter recipe” and see what pops up. Sorry!

  9. graciouspantry says:

    You did fine. The final yield will depend a lot on how much you cook it down. You can even blend this if you really want it smooth. But for me, I did have the berries in there. It wasn’t totally smooth.

  10. graciouspantry says:

    Sorry, but I know nothing about canning. You would have to show the recipe to a master canner to find out.

  11. I just made this, this afternoon – for family Christmas gifts. Looks and smells yummy. I put it in 1/2 pint masons and then painted the lids with chalkboard paint to write everyones names on.

  12. Erum Tanvir says:

    I found this recipe through pinterest and it looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it as I have some cranberries in my fridge right now. I am wondering would this work in a slow cooker? and what heat setting and cooking time would you suggest?

    Thanks,

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Erum – That’s hard to say. I know it can be done, but you need to use less water because a slow cooker is a very moist environment. Water doesn’t “cook down” the way it does on a stove.

  13. I’ve heard not so good to cook honey & vanilla. What do you think about adding them after cooking down cranberries??
    Also, I’ve just cooked plain cranberries & put couple spoonfuls in my Greek yogurt. I love the totally tart & eat berries raw mostly.
    I’m going to try a smooth sauce adding Chia seed & blending and hope it will set up firmer.
    Thanks for your great blog!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Linda – I have never heard anything like that. Vanilla is made for cooking and baking. I can’t imagine why it would be bad. I guess you could add them in after cooking, but do it while the berries are still hot. If they thicken too much, you’ll have a hard time incorporating the honey and vanilla into the berries.

  14. What could be subbed for the honey (fructose issues)? Simple syrup?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Lindsey – Well, simple syrup is not clean and is typically made with corn syrup which is also high in fructose. What about maple syrup? Can you use that?

  15. alison cline says:

    I would love to make a small serving of this. I have 1 12oz bag of cranberries in my freezer. I guess I should have paid more attention in math class, but any idea on how much honey I should use for such a small batch?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Alison – I would start with a 1/4 cup. You can always stir in more to taste as needed towards the end of cooking. Just don’t burn yourself tasting it!

  16. Christina says:

    Can I add orange zest to this? I imagine it would taste good but do you think it would affect the storage time?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Christina – Sure, you can add orange zest! I don’t think it would affect the storage time, but I do recommend keeping this in the fridge. I wouldn’t can it, if that’s what you are referring to.

  17. Why can you not can it, when it’s still hot? In your instructions, you leave the lids off. Why would you do that if your canning them?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Rachel – I don’t can them. But I do find that those canning jars are just the right size for this sort of thing.

  18. kathy furneaux says:

    I want to make this for Christmas gifts….from what I read in the posts, agave is acceptable replacement for honey and you add no water? Sounds delish, but I just want to get it right. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kathy – I don’t use agave because it’s processed and very simlar to corn syrup. So I really can’t advise you on that as I haven’t tried it. Sorry.

  19. kathy furneaux says:

    It came out perfect !!!!!!!!! I did pass on the agave and used the honey…..Thanks again. My

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kathy – Fantastic!! 😀

  20. Kim Dvorak says:

    Had frozen cranberries that were in need of being used up. Made this up in no time flat. Added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to brighten the flavor. Going to use it with mandrin oranges in a gelatin salad. Whats left I’ll use on my cottage cheese and greek yogurt mixture in the morning.
    Thanks for the ideas!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kim – My pleasure! Sounds amazing!! 😀

  21. Is any water used? If so, how much?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Glenda – In theory, you could add water if you don’t want to watch it as closely. But you would have to boil it down by about half if you add water. I didn’t use any. The honey provided enough liquid. Just keep your heat on the low side.

      1. Thanks! I made a batch to share at Thanksgiving. It turned out great. I thought this would be something that my mom would like. I was right..she loved it!

        1. The Gracious Pantry says:

          Glenda – Fantastic!! I’m so happy she like it. Cranberries are amazing little things! 🙂

  22. I was just wondering if this recipe can be canned in a boiling water canner for later use

    1. Debra – I do not recommend it as I do not know the first thing about canning. You would have to have a master canner look at the recipe to tell you. Sorry, wish I could be more help.