Banana-Cranberry Butter

I'm beginning to have a problem. I'm becoming obsessed with fruit butters. The idea of cooking down fruit into a delicious, sweet, low-calorie way to add flavor is very appealing. Unfortunately, fruit butters seem to be more of an East Coast and Midwest thing, and where I live they are expensive and tough to find, particularly without the dreaded HFCS. After a little internet searching, it turns out that they are actually quite easy to make, and the inevitable follows: fruit that I need to use + inspiration = sometimes great results! And this was a great result!

This banana butter is very simple to make, takes about 15 minutes to prepare, and is delicious on pancakes, peanut butter sandwiches, and pretty much anywhere else that you would use bananas! 

Yield is about 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

4 bananas (very brown is best!)

1 cup brown sugar or sucanat

4 tbsp cranberry juice

1 tbsp cinnamon (more to taste)

Peel and cut the bananas, then dump into a bowl and blend with an immersion blender, or use a regular blender and blend until smooth. 

Dump the mixture into a saucepan, and add the remaining ingredients. Heat and stir until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. 

Pour into a clean, airtight container. Keeps for about a week in the fridge. I do not recommend canning this recipe.