This concentrated plum butter uses ripe fruit, gentle spice, and slow evaporation without added sugar. It is a refrigerator spread, not a shelf-stable preserve.

Sugar Free Plum Butter

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 5 to 6 hours
Setting: High, then low
Yield: About 2 cups
Storage: Refrigerator or freezer

Plums naturally contain sugar; “no-added-sugar” means no sugar or syrup is added. This untested formula must never be stored in a pantry.

Ingredients

3 pounds ripe plums
2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to Make Plum Butter

Prepare: Wash plums under running water. Halve, pit, and cut them into 1-inch pieces; discard damaged areas.
Start: Add plums, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, and salt to a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

Cook the pitted plum pieces until completely soft.
Blend: Turn off the cooker briefly. Use an immersion blender until smooth, keeping the blade fully submerged.
Reduce: Set to low. Place the lid slightly ajar according to the appliance manual and cook 3 to 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.

Reduce until the smooth plum butter holds a clear spatula trail.
Test: Spoon a small amount onto a chilled plate. It should mound softly and release no watery ring after 1 minute.
Finish: Stir in vanilla. Transfer to shallow clean containers and refrigerate promptly.

Texture Checklist

Pits are completely removed.
Fruit becomes smooth before reducing.
Edges are stirred regularly.
The butter mounds on a cold plate.
No scorched flavor develops.

Compare it with our sugar-free plum jam, peach jam, or small-batch fig jam.

Preservation and Storage

This recipe has not been laboratory tested for canning. Do not water-bath can, pressure-can, oven-can, or leave sealed jars at room temperature.

USDA recommends cooling food quickly in shallow containers and maintaining 40°F or below. Use clean spoons so crumbs and dairy do not enter the container.

Refrigerate up to 7 days.
Freeze up to 3 months.
Leave expansion space when freezing.
Thaw overnight under refrigeration.

Selecting Plums

Use plums that yield slightly to gentle pressure and smell fruity at the stem. Avoid leaking, fermented, moldy, or extensively bruised fruit.

Dark-skinned varieties produce a deeper color, while yellow plums make a lighter spread. Mixing varieties is acceptable when all fruit is equally ripe.

Weigh plums before pitting.
Remove every hard pit fragment.
Cut pieces to similar size.
Do not add damaged fruit for volume.

Serving Ideas

Spread on whole-grain toast.
Spoon over plain yogurt.
Serve beside roasted vegetables.
Swirl a small amount into oatmeal.

Fruit butter thickens further after chilling. Evaluate final consistency the next day before reducing it again; reheating an already thick batch can scorch the natural fruit solids quickly. Stir thoroughly before judging the chilled texture. Label containers with the preparation date before refrigeration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to peel plums?

No. The skins soften and contribute color. Blend thoroughly after the first cooking phase.

Why is it still loose?

Plum water content varies. Continue on low in 20-minute intervals, stirring frequently, until the chilled-plate test passes.

Slow Cooker No-Added-Sugar Plum Butter