Move over apple butter – learn how to make your own blueberry butter! Similar to jam or preserves, but with a silkier texture & melt-in-your-mouth feel, this Easy Crockpot Blueberry Butter is perfect for spreading on toast in the morning, topping crostini for appetizers or slathering on protein for a burst of flavor! It’s the perfect way to preserve summer fresh blueberries – without fancy equipment or heating up the house!
Updated: This post was originally published in September 2014. I took new photos, tweaked the recipe slightly and updated the post below to include more information about this Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter recipe. Plus, I added a recipe video to show you how easy this homemade fruit spread is to make!
Hi, friends! Question for you. Have you ever heard of blueberry butter!? Yes? No? Maybe so?
What about apple butter?! I feel like more people have heard of that variety of fruit butter. Apple butter just so happens to be where my love affair with flavored fruit ‘butters’ started.
In case fruit butters are a novelty to you, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to what will become your newest condiment obsession…
About this blueberry butter recipe
Sweet, fruity, packed with fresh blueberry flavor and laced with warming cinnamon, aromatic nutmeg and rich brown sugar, this blueberry butter tastes like a warm summer hug!
Rich, luscious, thinner, creamier and silkier in texture than a jam or a preserve, blueberry butter is a delicious way to jazz up basically all the things – think: toast, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, sandwiches, and so on.
But, not only is this ‘butter’ the cats meow in the taste department, it also couldn’t be any easier to throw together!
What is blueberry butter?
Despite the name, blueberry butter actually contains no butter at all. Which can be confusing, I know!
Blueberry butter, or any fruit butter for that matter, is a sweet spread made up of fruit, sugar (and optional spices) cooked into a paste. Unlike jellies and jams, fruit butters (including this Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter) contain no gelling agent, such as pectin.
The name fruit ‘butter’ came about because the texture is similar to that of dairy butter.
What is the difference between jelly, jam, preserves and fruit butters?
Want to know what sets this crockpot butter apart from jellies, jams and preserves? Check it out:
- Jelly: Contains pectin and comes in the form of fruit juice.
- Jam: Contains pectin and comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit.
- Preserves: Contains pectin and comes in the form of chunks or large pieces of fruit.
- Marmalade: Jam made with citrus fruit and peel.
- Butters: Made from certain orchard fruits and are lightly flavored with spices.
How to make this recipe for blueberry butter?
This easy, homemade fruit butter is super simple to make!
Simple throw some blueberries (fresh or frozen & defrosted) into a crockpot or slow cooker, and cook until blueberries are starting to burst and breakdown.
Next, add in some brown sugar, honey, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and continue to cook low and slow until the blueberries are thick and jam-like. When slow cooking, it is essential to crack the lid to vent, which allows moisture to be released. Evaporation and the slow cooking process are the keys to making fruit butter, versus plain fruit puree.
If you would like a silkier homemade blueberry butter, you can use an immersion blender to puree the mixture, or you can transfer the mix to a blender and puree.
Boom. Homemade Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter is all yours for the smearing.
How to use crockpot blueberry butter?
This easy Homemade Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry butter is extremely versatile and can be used in a variety of ways.
I’ve listed some options below, but don’t feel limited to just these! The sky really is a limit! Or, when all else fails, just eat this blueberry butter with a spoon… there is no judgement here!
- Smear it on biscuits, breads, croissants, muffins and toast.
- Use it as a topping for pancakes and waffles.
- Brush blueberry butter as a glaze for chicken, turkey, pork or fish.
- Add it to oatmeal, pudding or yogurt.
- Spread it on sandwiches instead of mayonnaise!
- Layer it in parfaits.
- Drizzle it on ice cream and sundaes for a fun topping!
- Use it as a filling for crepes.
Why have real butter when you can have Homemade Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry Jam?! I pinkie promise you won’t be going back to traditional jellies and jams after one spoonful of this luscious crock pot butter!
Until next time, friends, cheers – to summers bounty of fruit!
XOXO
Cheyanne
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More sauce and spread recipes!
If you love this silky blueberry preserve butter, try one of these delicious condiment recipes next!
- Homemade Garlic Butter (Plus 10 Compound Butter Flavor Variations & Uses.)
- Homemade Peach Chutney (Super quick and easy homemade chutney! Use any fruit.)
- Smoked Salmon Spread (So good on bagels and croissants! Plus, it doubles as a dip.)
- Bagel Dip (Creamy dip that doubles as a spread.)
- Whipped Cream Cheese (Skip store-bought cream cheese flavors and make your own.)
- Jalapeno Dip with Cream Cheese (Spicy, creamy and delicious on everything.)
Recipe for Blueberry Butter (plus step-by-step video!)👇
Homemade Easy Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter Recipe
Equipment
- Slow Cooker or Crockpot
- Immersion Blender, Stand Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients
- 4 dry pints Blueberries (about 3 pounds)*
- 1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Sugar gently packed*
- 1 TBS Honey
- 1 whole Lemon Zest and Juice
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Place blueberries in the pot of your slow cooker. Cover with the lid and turn slow cooker on HIGH. Cook 1 hour (SEE NOTES). Remove lid and stir. (If starting with blueberry puree, skip this step.)
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for another hour. Use an immersion blender to puree the blueberries. (If you do not have an immersion blender you can either transfer the blueberries to a high-powered blender or food processor and puree. If you started with pureed blueberries skip pureeing)
- Place the lid back on the slow cooker, but this time leave it slightly cracked. You can prop the lid open with a large wooden spoon, chopstick, or simply crack it open by turning the lid slightly to the side. You just want to have enough room for the steam to vent.
- Keeping your slow cooker set to LOW, cook for 3-4 hours, giving the blueberry puree a good stir every hour or so, and making sure you replace the lid keeping it cracked. After 3 hours check your butter. If it is about at the consistency you want, stir in the sugar, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Again replace the lid, keeping it cracked, and continue to cook on LOW for 1 final hour. If the butter is not as thick as you would like after the final hour, set the slow cooker to HIGH, remove the lid completely, and cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring every so often to prevent the butter from burning on the bottom.
- OPTIONAL: If you want a silky smooth butter: Use a food processor to puree the butter. Place a fine mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl and use a ladle to transfer butter to strainer to remove any large particles.
- Transfer butter to Jars and secure with a lid. Place in the refrigerator. Butter will keep in the fridge for one week.
Video
Notes
- You can use blueberry puree instead of fresh, whole blueberries if you would like. If using blueberry puree, skip step 1 entirely.
- If you don't want a more savory, less sweet blueberry butter, cut the brown sugar to 1 cup. If at the end of the cooking process you find you should have added all the sugar, simply stir in a bit of honey to taste.
- You can easily double this recipe, the cook time will remain the same.
- The total cooking process will take between 5-8 hours depending on the strength of your slow cooker and how hot it gets. If your slow cooker runs hot, make sure you stir the blueberries halfway through cooking in step 1. (Mine took a total of 6 hours from start to finish)
- The blueberry butter will thicken up after refrigeration.
- You can store the fruit butter, in a sealed container, in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the fruit butter for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
©No Spoon Necessary. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use any images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe please do not list instructions, instead link directly back to this post.
I love the idea as blueberries are my favorite fruit. I have a question, blueberries are naturally sweet why so much sugar in the recipe? I could see adding a little honey but 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar? For myself I don’t think I could handle all that sugar, my teeth and gums would rebel. I am going to make it but without the sugar, I know it will be fine because I snack on bowls of blueberries whenever I get the urge for a snack or my arthritis is bothering me because they are a very good anti-inflammatory and it takes the pain away. I practically live on them in the summer and if it ever came to a battle between me and a bear for these little gems, trust me, that bear would be running with his tail between his legs. If I can find some good size berries, I am going to make this butter sans sugar. I still can’t figure out why they call it butter, there isn’t any butter in it.
Sugar acts as a preservative, firms the structure of the fruit, and helps the product hold its color and flavor.
If you make it without the sugar, that’s your choice, but it will not be blueberry butter and if the product fails to be preserved, edible and tasty as long as it might have, then that’s on you.
Of course without all the sugar, you might just enjoy it with a spoon.
So… there are pros and cons.
I canned the Blueberry Butter and it turned out great!!! Loved it and was easy to do! Thanks to you!
I’ve been making this exact recipe for a year now..I LOVE IT. I follow the directions, and its perfect everytime. Thank you!
Hi London,
I’m so thrilled to hear you love this recipe and it turns out perfect every time!! You’ve made my day! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Cheers!
Can I can these for shelf storage?
Hi Nancy,
That’s a great question! While I have never canned the blueberry butter, I don’t see why you can’t – as long as you are using hot, sterilized jars and following proper canning procedures. If you try canning the butter, I hope you come back and let me know how it goes over! I’m sure there are other readers who have the same question and would love to hear how it worked out for you. Cheers and thank you so much for stopping by!
can this be canned in a hot water bath like you would a jam or jelly? I’d like to make it now while blueberries are fresh and save to put in my Christmas basket gifts. Thanks for all the detail and pictures – looks fantastic!
Hi Mellisa,
That’s a great question! While I have never canned the blueberry butter, I don’t see why you can’t – as long as you are using hot, sterilized jars and following proper canning procedures. If you try canning the butter, I hope you come back and let me know how it goes over! I’m sure there are other readers who have the same question and would love to hear how it worked out for you. Cheers and thank you so much for stopping by!
Thanks for responding! I made it today and processed in a water bath. I’ll keep you posted! Thanks for the recipe!
Mellisa
The acidity is high enough that you should be able to can it in a water bath. The Ball Book of Canning has a blueberry butter recipe with only 1 1/2 Tablespoons of lemon and says to leave 1/4″ headspace (5cm), process 10mins.
Thank you so much for sharing that information, Michelle! 🙂 Cheers and warms wishes for a wonderful holiday season.
Hi – where did you get the pretty jars? Those would be gorgeous for a gift!
Hi Tina,
Thank you so much for the kind comment! I agree, the jars would make a great gift!! But gosh, all the jars are really old and I can’t remember exactly where I purchased them. I believe I got most of them off of etsy. Cheers!!
Can I can this or only freeze it?
You can absolutely can this! Let me know if you have any other questions! Cheers!
The Recipe sounds great but was wondering if you could use Stevia or Swerve instead of the sugar?
Hi Lisa,
While I have only made this recipe using real brown sugar, I don’t see why you can’t use something like Swerve or a brown sugar blend. If you try it, let me know how it goes! Cheers!
Like the blueberry butter! Any chance of bringing it in as a low sugar butter?
Hi Jim,
I’m not sure if I’m properly understanding your question, but if you are asking if you can use less sugar in the recipe, then the answer is yes of course. You could cut the sugar in half, or cut it out completely and increase the amount of honey, but fair warning, the blueberry butter will be more on the tart side. Let me know if you have any other questions! I’m always here to help! Cheers and thank you so much for stopping by!
I am trying this recipe out today, I am hoping it turns out well. I wanted to tell you that I got some beautiful jelly jars from JoAnn Fabric. these have the diamond detail pattern in the glass and an oval spot to label the jars. They are super cute if you intend to gift.
.going to bed now, have frozen blueberries in the fridge to thaw. Will try this recipe tomorrow. Looking forward to making a healthy version of jam. Yours looks so good. Blueberry butter, Who knew. Thanks. Will let you know how it turns out.
This is a great recipe! And the photos are so enticing! I remember ages ago (I’m old) I saw peach curd for the first time and it blew my mind! I though curd was only made from lemons! So now we have butters beyond apple and pumkin, and it’s a lovely thing. I’ve personally never made a butter from berries, so thank you!
I want to eat this one just about everything! Love that it is made in a slow cooker too!
I am so excited to try this recipe! Blueberries are in full swing here. I’ve only had apple butter in the past – boy have I been missing out because this looks heavenly!
Love it, Can you use other fruit and what spices with that fruit. Can you e-mail the answer to me, Thank you!
Can you use any fruit and what spices with that fruit? can you e-mail the info? Thank you! Love it
Say what? Blueberry butter? That’s the most unique fruit-based butter ideas I’ve ever seen. I know I didn’t read your blog back in 2014, but you should have updated the photos earlier, Chey! I’ve certainly missed a lot without this luscious recipe 😉
I’d love blueberry butter so much more than apple as blueberries are my favorite fruit! Thanks for breaking down the difference between jam, jelly, etc. too — I love it! I’d want to put this butter on pretty much everything and I love that you can make it in the slow cooker!
I love fruit butter! Still haven’t tried one with blueberries though…love the idea of using slow cooker to make this summer treat. Bet it’s GREAT on everything :-))
Fruit butters are the BEST! I made the most amazing apricot butter last summer but your blueberry butter looks even better. I mean that COLOR! I swoon. Just give me the jar and a spoon. . .Have a great week, Chey!
I’m going to be slathering this on EVERYTHING Chey! I totally adore summer blueberries! So plump and juicy! I’m a total hoarder! Love the photos and the video!! Can’t wait to whip up a batch! And I can be at the beach while it’s cooking! WIN!
Hi Cheyanne,
I wonder if it’s possible to triple the recipe and then continue on to canning the Blueberry Butter? Any thoughts?
Hi Karen,
You can absolutely triple the recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by and happy cooking! 🙂
Put it on a pork chop and I’m there.
Adam, Check out the Pork Chop with Blueberry Butter and Peach Salsa. You’ll like it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂