I’m a big fan of apple butter, so when I had a box of pears that needed to be used up quickly, pear butter kept coming to mind. I looked up some recipes and then mixed, matched, and tweaked until I had a recipe I was happy with. I have never made apple OR pear butter before and I was a bit skeptical at first. But when I smelled that pot of yummyness bubbling on my stove I knew I had a winner!!
First peel and cut up 8 pounds of pears. This was about 16 medium sized pears.
Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan to keep them from sticking. About 1/2 a cup. Cook on medium heat until they are soft, about 30 minutes.
Let the soft pears cool off a bit and then blend until you have a smooth consistency. You could use a stick blender or a regular blender.
When you have a nice smooth “pear sauce” add the sugar, orange zest, nutmeg, orange juice, and almond extract. Cook on medium heat until it reaches your desired thickness, stir often so it doesn’t stick to the pan. It will take about an hour. I let it cool then ladled it into clean pint size mason jars and put them in the freezer.
To can it: Ladle hot pear butter into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal with lids and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal. This made a little over 4 pints. The recipe could easily be doubled or cut in half.
NOTE: This recipe uses about half the amount of sugar that all the other recipes for pear butter call for. It was PLENTY sweet for us but you could add more if you like. The only thing I will do differently next time is cook it for longer, I would prefer it to be a bit thicker.
Yum, your pear butter looks delicious! 🙂
I have made pear butter in years past but this year, I went for spiced pear jam. I usually make my apple and pear butters in the slow cooker, works really well.
I’ve been wanting to try apple butter in the slow cooker! It sounds easy and I LOVE easy. 🙂
I am not a huge fan of pears because I don’t like the gritty consistency, but I do LOVE pear butter. Seems the consistency boils down or something. I am going to put up some apples in a few days, so maybe I will buy some pears too. Thanks for the recipe.
I am linking up from Real Food Wednesday, and it would be great if you could drop by sometime http://mywildcrazylife.blogspot.com
Thanks for stopping by Allyson!
hmmm…..it sounds interesting. We love apple butter as long as it is nicely spiced– I once bought some that had no spices in it. It was horribly bland!
Thanks for sharing on A Humble Bumble’s Healthy Tuesdays Blog Hop.
Kerry from Country Living On A Hill
YUM!
Thanks for sharing this recipe at the HomeAcre Hop!
Sandra
Hi Grace! Your pear butter looks amazing! I’ve made apple/ pear butter before, but not plain pear. I hope to get some pears so I can try it this year. 🙂
Thanks for sharing on The Creative Home & Garden Hop! I chose your post as one of my features!
http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-creative-home-garden-hop-11.html
Thanks soooo much Lisa, Have a great week!
Hey! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. I pinned it. I also love your site!
Thanks for stopping by Lynn!