Made this for my family for our first Thanksgiving in our new house... everyone loved it, so moist and just a nice bit of sweetness

I'm assuming this is the same recipe I got out of the Allrecipes Cookbook, although the submission names are different. Any, it was FABULOUS! I just made it last night with a turkey from Christmas that I thought I'd better use. This is the first time I've cooked a turkey in years- and this recipe seems pretty foolproof as I had to make quite a few changes. First off , read the directions all the way through- which of course I did not and found myself making the butter while I preheated the oven. Besides using plain apple juice, Aunt Jemima syrup and Herbs de Provence instead of the fresh herbs called for, as these were what I had on hand , and then putting the mixture in the freezer to hasten the hardening process as I had only 31/2 hours til dinnertime. After 30 min., the butter was somewhat hardened, so I proceeded with preparing the turkey- roasted it for the desired amount of time.( didn't add the vegetables to the pan, but added the chicken broth) The house smelled wonderful while it cooked. The turkey came out gorgeous and so tender and moist! And the gravy was great- a nice change from plain turkey gravy. I loved it, my family loved it- and it was such a forgiving recipe that it still turned out great despite all of my screw ups. I can only imagine how great this would be if you followed the directions properly and used all of the correct ingredients, I will definantly be making this again. Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe!

Great recipes, very easy with pro results. The gravy went over well.Will use it again

This was my first holiday bird and it turned out GREAT!! I substituted orange zest for the lemon because I was afraid my traditionally-minded in-laws would freak. The resulting broth after roasting was so flavorful that I had a hard time not slurping it all before making a gravy. Again deferring to the in-laws, I used regular butter to make the gravy with the broth, reserving the maple/citrus/spice infused butter for dinner where we used it on our rolls. My family FLIPPED. The turkey was moist and flavorful, the gravy was delectable, and the butter and rolls were like dessert. I will make this recipe again and again.

Moist and wonderful turkey, and the left over maple herb butter isn't at all necessary for exquisite gravy. This has now been THE Thanksgiving turkey on BOTH sides of my family for 3 years and counting...

MMMMMMMMMMM. This turned out sooooooo delicious, I will now make it every year, may make it again for Christmas. I added alot more onions, celery and carrots to the pan then called for. Also added green onions, and reserved dome of the vegetables to stuff in the turkey. I sliced up the rest of my lemon and added it to the pan also and stuck a slice on the turkey. Next time I make it i will add the lemon zest to the butter mixture after I put aside some butter mixture for the gravy. The gravy turned out great, but would have been better without the lemon flavor.

Did Christmas one year, now I got it every year. The white meat is as moist as the dark meat.

The turkey did come out wonderful. Very moist. I am changing my review to give this 4 stars,because of the turkey ONLY. But the gravy was very, very, sweet. I had 2 pkgs of McCormick turkey gravy on hand that I made and added to it, and still very sweet. So I added some white wine to it. That did take some of the sweetness away, but still left it very sweet. If I do make this turkey recipe again, which I probably will. I would not use the drippings for the gravy. I would use store bought or make some ahead of time.

Great recipe....my husband used this recipe to make his very first Thanksgiving turkey and it was fantastic!

LDMAC1

This recipe was delicious! I used it with the Turkey Brine recipe on this site. I brined the turkey over night. Then used this recipe to bake. The only thing that I did notice if brined. It cookes faster. You really have to watch the turkey if you cook at 500 degrees in the beginning. The butter browns fast... I set the gizzards etc. aside and made a seperate gravy with chicken stock because I'm not a big fan of sweet gravy. The turkey was soooo tender and juicy. It literally was the best turkey I've ever made. Thank you for sharing

Good recipe - the gravy was a little too sweet for my family but other than that, don't expect too much of a maple-ish flavour although this makes the turkey very moist and wonderful.

Great! This recipe is listed 3 times but is mostly the same except this one calls for more butter mixture and flour in the gravy. The turkey was moist and the gravy is slightly sweet. This was only my 2nd turkey and I received many compliments. Make this with the cranberry, sausage and apple stuffing and you can't go wrong- trust me! I don't think I would be a good cook without these recipes/this website! thanks!

I made this recipe for the first time in 2001. It was delicious then and requested every year since!! This turkey is always a hit and leftovers make fabulous turkey soup..very flavorful! I usually vary the herbs a bit(fresh sage, tarragon, oregano, parsley, thyme and a little cilantro).One of the things I love is that while the reduction is reducing, I can prep the other foods on the menu. I usually make it accompanied by Green beans with crimini mushrooms and shallots recipe I got from food and wine Thanksgiving 2001 and cranberry sauce. This year I tried Killer Cranberry sauce I found on A/R. What a meal!!! Also...McCormick and Schmick's deep dish apple pie recipe is amazing!!! Happy Eating!!

This is the second year I have used this recipe for Thankgiving. It is awesome! It is almost impossible to goof up, at least I have not been able to even if I forgot something or did it wrong. It still comes out YUMMY! I have used Apple Cider both years and I too have a liguid under the butter. I just use the apple butter as directed and then use some of the juice too. I baste often and have always had enough pan juices for gravy and never need to add more broth. The gravy is wonderful. I'm going to try this on a whole chicken too. Thank you for this recipe! *** I want to add. I am making this recipe again this year, my original review was in 2002. Last night I made my maple butter. I let it cook and reduce for over an hour. This morning it is all solid butter. I think the key is in the time you allow the cider/syrup mixture cook. I don't think I'll be using the Apple Brandy this year.

I scaled this recipe down for a brined turkey breast and made the maple butter as directed, using all of the mixture at once. Basted often and after 1.5 hours at 350, the turkey was perfect. I didn't make the gravy as stated; instead I took the easy route and just added the pan juices to a dry gravy mix. By doing so, the gravy wasn't too sweet, but a hint of maple could be detected and the fresh thyme was a nice change from the more traditional sage -- very good over mashed potatoes. Since this was a successful test run, I'll try this method on a larger gobble next time. Thanks!

This has become a family tradition! Thanks so much for this recipe!!

didn't make the turkey taste too different but the gravy was great and the house smelled wonderful because of it

Great tasting and juicy turkey. This is the best turkey I've ever made. I will definitely make this again next year. Next time I will boil the cider vinegar and maple mixture longer. I don't think I reduced the mixture as it was intended because when it cooled, there was liquid beneath the butter. This made it too tangy to use for the gravy, but that did not affect the flavor of the turkey itself. This was such a good recipe, I couldn't even mess it up! *Actually, I did mess it up!! I mistakenly used apple cider vineger instead of apple cider and it still turned out great. I was wondering why the gravy was so tangy.

excellent gravy. I didn't reserve any of the butter mixture and didn't add any brandy, thought it would be too sweet. cooked it using the oven bags and didn't add any chicken broth around it. made it twice first time using apple cider and the second apple juice and no difference. my only complaint would be that the turkey gets way too brown and it's not as moist as suggested, but an overall excellent taste. oh., also sprinkled sage and garlic powder on the turkey the second time and that gave it some more flavor.