An easy, never fail way to make homemade maple butter at home. Great for baking or delicious on toast!
If I had known how easy it was to make great maple butter at home, I would have made it long before now. And now that I have made it, I will be sure to keep a jar in fridge from now on.
This version is for actual maple butter (maple syrup combined with butter solids). There is another version of maple butter that is often made commercially that uses just maple syrup that is boiled and “creamed” through stirring. I’ve tried this version at home and can attest to the fact that it’s a tricky mixture to work with. It can easily be over-cooked and harden into a mass, or crystallize and involves a whole lot of stirring (arm-numbing, in fact). This version of maple butter is much, much easier and just as nice, in my opinion.
This recipe begins with just a cup of maple syrup. The syrup is boiled to the soft-ball stage (240° F.) and then butter is stirred into the hot syrup until melted. Once all the butter melts, the whole works goes into a bowl, where it is slowly mixed until it makes a creamy mixture. I used my stand mixer, but a bowl and an electric mixer would work just as well.
Maple butter is perfect for pancakes, muffins, toast and scones. Or try melting some on carrots or squash.
Wondering about the bread? It’s Maple White Sandwich Bread, a terrific toasting bread.
Get the Recipe: Maple Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure maple syrup, Grade A recommended
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add maple syrup and pinch of salt and cinnamon. Heat maple syrup over high heat until boiling (*be sure to use a large-ish pan, as syrup will boil up about double or more). Attach or insert thermometer and boil until syrup reaches 240°F when measured with a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from heat and stir in butter until it's completely melted.
- Pour mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer or alternately, use a large bowl with a hand mixer. Start on low speed and gradually increase speed until you reach high. Continue to beat on high until mixture is lightened and creamy, about 8-10 minutes total. (Mixture will still be a bit runny at this point. Don't worry, it will firm up in the fridge.) Pour into a jar or bowl, cover and refrigerate.
- If your maple butter has separated after cooling (leaving a layer of butter on tosimply stir the butter back in to incorporate.
- Maple butter will keep refrigerated in an air-tight container about 2 weeks.
Can you freeze this? If so, how long would it keep for?
Hi Janayah, I haven’t frozen it myself, but I understand you can freeze it for longer storage.
Hi! This looks delicious. Is there a way to make it without a candy thermometer?
Hi Megan, you can certainly try it the old-fashioned way, which is to test the mixture in a glass of cold water. 240F is “Soft Ball Stage”. So when you drop a bit of it into the glas of water, it will form a soft, sticky ball that can be flattened when removed from the water.
Hi Jennifer, can’t wait to try this recipe! About how long will it stay good in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Alexandra, it should keep about 3-4 months, though I sometimes find it gets a little grainy after a while in the fridge. I would count on about 2 months, for sure.
Delicious! Creamy, smooth, no separation or graininess. Strong maple flavour. Made a half recipe. Added the salt and cinnamon off heat. Beat for about 15 minutes until the mixture was nice and thick. It wasn’t as light in colour as the maple butter in the recipe photo.
So glad you enjoyed it, Sadie :) The colour of the maple syrup would affect the colour of the maple butter. I suspect I used a lighter coloured maple syrup, vs an amber. Thanks so much!
OMG that was incredible like literally 2 die 4….….thx so much who ever thought it up
So glad to hear :) Thanks so much Mia!
Hello
Is it 240° F or C for the candy thermometer?
Thanks :)
Hi Hannah, it would be 240F. Enjoy!
Soooo good!! My 9 and 11 year old made it to go with biscuits for dinner!
So glad to hear, Crystal and love that your kids made it :) Thanks so much!
Made this recipe today. It is FABULOUS and so easy. Exactly what i was looking for. We bought a case of maple syrup last year and i was looking for a way to uae some up besides taffy on snow and pancakes etc.
Thanks again
So glad to hear! Thanks :)
Jennifer,
I made this the other day, using your directions. The jars I used a jar were 9.6 ounces and 6 oz. They were both filled. I had purchased some Maple butter from a festival and it was hardened (crystallized) . What I made was creamy and quite spreadable. This was so simple that I will never buy from a craft festival again.
So glad to hear Julie! I love to have it on hand for toast. Such a nice treat :)
I noticed you listed this as producing 12 servings. Can you clarify what this might be in terms of how many cups of butter?
Hi Caroline, I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking. It’s tough to assign serving sizes to a recipe like this. It makes a small jar (jar pictured in the photos). I find it best to make it in small batches, so I can enjoy it fresh.
Maybe you could clarify how big the jar is possibly? Sorry, just having a little difficultly gauging if one cup of maple syrup will produce enough for a recipe.
The jar is quite small, Caroline. I just filled it with water and it holds about 2/3 cup.
When I make a batch, I make a big one. Usually contains 5 cups syrup and 3 3/4 cups butter. My problem is that some of the batches turned sugary.
Any ideas why?
Hi Claude, if the sugar is crystalizing, I can only suspect it may trace back to the boiling of the syrup. Either it wasn’t boiled to the exact right temperature, or it was stirred while boiling. What do you do with those batches. Wondering if they are salvageable by setting the jars in a bowl of warm water and re-stirring/re-refrigerating.
Why grade ‘A’, and not ‘B’? It is my understanding that ‘B’ is bettter.
Grade B maple syrup is late season, dark syrup. Many people prefer it for pancakes etc. for it’s bold flavour. Grade A though is the perfect “maple” flavour, when combined with the butter.
Thank you for the clearing that up. I don’t live in maple country, and try to research these kinds of things :)
Dear Jennifer, during our holidays in Canada we Fell in Love with Maple Butter. What we could not imagine at this time was, that it is impossible Or very expensive to Buy Maple Butter in Germany. Now I found your receipe an tried it immediately. It is fantastic!!!!
Thank you.
Best Wishes from Germany, Tanja
Hi Tanja! This is a bit of a cheater version, but it delivers all the same satisfaction :) And it’s expensive even here, too!
Hi Jennifer, I’ve just found your site via Pinterest and wanted to let you know I think your recipes look divine and your photos are just heavenly! I was doing some research into food photography as I’m definitely at the beginning of a very steep learning curve; I think your images are beautiful. I’m coincidentally also a huge fan of seasonal eating, and now very much look forward to following your blog :)
Thanks so much, Frau. I found food photography very challenging, especially in the early days. My best advice is to find a good window (always use natural light) and invest in a white foam-core board to bounce light back on to your food from the window. Good light, shoot in RAW and learn to post-process in Photoshop or Lightroom. Makes all the difference!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some tips! They are very much appreciated. I always prefer taking photos with natural light (I am sure my neighbours think I’m mad on the balcony with my dinner) so that’s helpful to know I’m doing at least one thing right :) Now to find out what foam-core is in German ;)
The Walmart here sells the most awesome presentation board thingy, that has wings on either side that fold in (think kids science fair presentations). It’s the best, because the wings make it so it will stand up on it’s own, which is so helpful!
This maple butter was very good and really easy to make!! We baked sweet potato chips and dipped them in the maple butter!! SO GOOD
So glad you enjoyed it Jessica. Would be great with sweet potatoes.
Tried maple butter at a restaurant on my sweet potato, let’s just say I’m hooked best I’ve had, going to try this recipe thanks
Enjoy Shawn. It’s great with carrots, too!
Hi Jennifer, When I looked at the recipe I noticed that the salt and cinnamon were not included in the instructions. At what point do you add in these ingredients?
Oops. I add it at the beginning. Sorry, forgot to put it in the instructions. Will add it now. Thanks for the heads up.
Oh my word! This butter sounds fabulous! I bet it would be wonderful on cooked carrots!
Hi Kathy and thanks. Yes, it is delicious on carrots (or squash etc.), which makes it very useful beyond toast.
Thanks Sophie and yes, that is the maple sandwich bread. Figured they’d go really well together and … they did!
How good does that sound! I’ve never thought of doing a maple butter or even heard of anything like it, but I’m totally hooked. Is it spread on a piece of your maple sandwich bread? Ah, you’re so good at life :) I could realllly go for a slice right now! Thanks for more wonderful inspiration.