Blueberry Butter

Sorry to post this so late in the season but it could not wait until next year. I'm loving this butter and wanted to share in case anyone happens upon some end-of-season blueberries, I know I am still seeing some around..

A couple weeks back I happened upon a pretty good deal at the Dallas Farmer's Market, 12 pints of blueberries for $10. That's 24 cups, folks. A LOT of blueberries, more than you need for most small batch recipes. So I turned to fruit butter. Fruit butters are a bit different than jam or jelly, they require less sugar and cook over a longer period of time and yield less. Perfect if you have a ton of fruit or want to lower your sugar intake a bit.

Oddly enough I had seen Marisa's Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter just a few weeks prior, not knowing at the time that I'd soon have more blueberries than I knew what to do with. Here's the simple recipe.


Blueberry Butter
(printable recipe)
from Food in Jars

makes approximately 3 1/2 pints of butter

8 cups of pureed blueberries
2 cups sugar
1 lemon, zested
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Put the pureed blueberries in a slow cooker. Place a lid on the pot and turn it on low. After about an hour, give it a stir. At this point, you want to use something to prop the lid a bit. I found that laying a wooden spoon across the rim of the cooker and then placing the lid on gave it just enough room to let the steam evaporate.

After 5 hours add spices and sugar. Remove the lid and increase heat setting to high.

Once it’s cooked down sufficiently*, pour into jars (leave a good 1/2 inch of head space), wipe rims, apply lids and screw on bands. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

*When the cooking process is done, you can puree with an immersion blender or (carefully) in a regular blender, for a smoother product. It depends on whether you like your butters a bit chunky or very smooth.

The slow cooker makes this a snap to prepare, it was the perfect side project to have going during my weekend canning marathon, as it required little attention and gave me lots of time to do other things.

Blueberry Butter is great on breakfast breads, spooned over ice cream, or swirled into yogurt. I may even try to use it as a pastry filling, possibilities abound!