Dried Cherry Butter Recipe

By
Lucy Baker
Lucy Baker
Lucy Baker is a food writer, publisher, and author of two cookbooks: The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets and Edible DIY: Simple, Giftable Recipes to Savor and Share. In addition to her columns on Serious Eats, she has written for The Journal News, Westchester Magazine, and her blog, Turnip the Oven.
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Updated Aug. 30, 2018
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Dried cherries are one of my favorite dried fruits. Plump, tart, and sweet, they have a concentrated cherry flavor that packs a serious punch. Here, dried cherries shine in a silky fruit butter sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon. This butter would be delicious on cornbread or sourdough toast, or use it as a filling for chocolate sandwich cookies.

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Recipe Facts

4.5

(8)

Active: 30 mins
Total: 60 mins
Makes: 3 half-pint jars

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Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups dried cherries
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 to 4 large lemons)
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin

Directions

  1. Combine cherries, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 2 cups of water in a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the cherries are tender, about 15 minutes.

  2. Transfer cherry mixture and cooking liquid to a blender and puree until smooth. Return mixture to the saucepan and add honey, cinnamon, and pectin. Return mixture to a boil and cook at a rapid boil for one minute.

  3. Remove saucepan from heat. Ladle cherry butter into hot, sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

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