Much as you love butter, eating it with a spoon is where you draw the line.

Apple butter is a different story. Especially if it’s made by Chicago’s Co-Op Sauce.

Founder Mike Bancroft and his girlfriend/partner, Anne Kostroski (the guru behind Crumb bread), have jarred fifteen gallons of the stuff. The unusual addition of green zebra tomatoes — inspired by a surplus at the farmers market — gives it acidity and tang that pump up the flavor.

Bancroft pairs the butter with charcuterie and spreads it on sandwiches (PB&ABs, grilled Gruyere and apple butter on Crumb walnut bread). Kostroski uses it to make sweet apple butter focaccia. We enjoy swirling it into oatmeal and smearing it on manchego.

The best part: Half the proceeds will go to Co-Op Image, a nonprofit dedicated to providing arts education programs to communities in need. That’s reason enough to indulge.

Available at Birchwood Kitchen, 2211 West North Avenue, between Leavitt Street and Bell Avenue (773-276-2100); Logan Square Indoor Farmers Market at Congress Theater, 2135 North Milwaukee Avenue, at Rockwell Street; online at coopsauce.com, $6.

Photo: Courtesy of Co-Op Sauce