This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This past weekend was everything I love about Fall.
Long walks with friends in the crisp autumn air. Lazy mornings enjoyed at the coffee shop nextdoor. Days snuggled in cozy sweaters and fluffy slippers. Turning leaves everywhere on fire with color. Catching up on episodes of my favorite fall shows, and then watching a moving book club pick come to life in the theater with friends. Taking full advantage of Daylight Savings Time to sleep in an extra hour. Sunday morning worship and words.
And of course, in my opinion, all good weekends must include some quality time in the kitchen.
This particular weekend was all about the pears for me. Ever since my trip in October to visit Harry & David, I have been craving pears nonstop. And then somehow buying them nonstop. :)
So to use up a few leftover ripe pears this weekend, I decided to make a quick small batch of stovetop pear butter. It’s basically like apple butter — but with pears!
This is no all-day, enormous batch, canning recipe though. Just an easy pear butter recipe that can be ready to go in 1 hour. It’s also naturally sweetened with honey, so you can feel good about generously layering a little extra onto your toast or muffin or wherever you may enjoy your pear butter.
I’ll add it to my list of things I love about fall. It’s seasonal, full of yummy spices, and oh-so-comforting and sweet.
This easy pear butter recipe can be made on the stove in 1 hour, and is perfect for spreading on toast other favorites!
Ingredients
Scale
3 lbs. ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of groud nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
Instructions
Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 50 minutes, covering so that the lid is slightly open, and stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on the mixture so that the bottom does not burn. Once it has reduced slightly and thickened, remove from heat and transfer to a food processor. Pulse until smooth. (Or you can skip this step and keep the pear butter chunky.)
Transfer to canning jars or a heat-proof container, seal, and refrigerate until ready to use. Keep for up to a week.
*If your pear butter is too thin, feel free to run the mixture through a strainer to remove extra liquid. Alternately, let the mixture simmer on the stove longer to reduce more.
This was easy and delicious! It has a buttery flavor. Great on toast and on cottage cheese! I’m making my second batch tonight! Next, it’s going on pancakes!
This is soooo good!! I only had a pound of pears after coring and peeling ( i am waiting on the other 15lbs to ripen) so sadly there is much less than the recipe calls for-. But i didn’t adjust the seasoning amount and its amazing tasting.
Wow! This was amazing! The first batch was completely gone in one sitting at dinner, so I doubled the next batch. Note: The second time around I was worried there may not be enough liquid, so I added a little water. I will not do that again. Made it just a tad bit too runny. The batch without water was better.
I made this and it tastes wonderful! I only had 2/3 of the amount of pears called for, and adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. I let it simmer just a bit longer and left it slightly chunky. Can’t wait to try it on some pumpkin bread I’m making! Thanks for the recipe! It makes the kitchen smell heavenly!
Made this yesterday. Delicious! I cooked it down quite awhile to thicken. I popped one jar in the freezer to see how it will do. Thanks for the recipe!
I didn’t use the measurements, just chopped up some pears and added the rest. No honey so I used a small amount of home made hickory syrup. But you could use maple syrup too. Turned out really well – my kids loved it.
Made this as written. It was just ok. The pears were ripe but the pear butter was still lacking in sweetness. My husband thought I forgot the honey. Also didn’t notice the spices as much as I thought we would. The process, however, was super simple. We will play with the recipe and try again! Thank you for sharing.
I burned the bottom my first time because I neglected to stir it throughout. Tonight, I stirred and only used 2 tbsp instead of 3 (I’m in WW), but it didn’t yield 2 cups.
I’m using windfall pears so am concerned there’s not enough juices. Not sure what is ‘coming to a boil’ since no water added. Just getting started but have my doubts…
A great simple recipe. Made one wonderful batch, now trying a few changes on the second: adding a few almonds, sliced and toasted, plus a drop of almond seasoning at the end as almonds so good with pears.
This came out delicious, I added two apples to this recipe. Just the right amount of sweetness. Used pumpkin pie spice since I didn’t have any ground ginger. Great recipe.
Once sealed, does this have to be kept refrigerated?
My question also! Does it need to be refrigerated after it has been sealed?
If you choose to can it , will it last longer than a week?
Canned goods do not need to be refrigerated. Follow safe canning practices and the food is shelf stable.
Can you freeze this?
did you try freezing? wondering this myself.
★★★★★
This seems like its going to be amazing!!!!
★★★★★
This Pear butter is amazing. Easy to make and very good. Makes great gifts and wonderful eating. Glad I found this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This was easy and delicious! It has a buttery flavor. Great on toast and on cottage cheese! I’m making my second batch tonight! Next, it’s going on pancakes!
★★★★★
This is soooo good!! I only had a pound of pears after coring and peeling ( i am waiting on the other 15lbs to ripen) so sadly there is much less than the recipe calls for-. But i didn’t adjust the seasoning amount and its amazing tasting.
Made this today so easy and simple and is wonderful thank you
★★★★★
I used this recipe today. I made 9 half pint jars. It is so pretty and tastes wonderful!
★★★★★
did you water bath it? how long if so?
★★★
Made it and it is so yummy.
★★★★★
This is the basic Recipe I have used for over 25 years to make pear butter with my sixth grade classes! So easy and so yummy!
★★★★★
Can I use apples instead of pears and get apple butter?
★★★★★
If you wanted to can this, do you know what he processing time would be?
It’s easy and delicious. Love that it uses honey vs. sugar.
★★★★★
Wow! This was amazing! The first batch was completely gone in one sitting at dinner, so I doubled the next batch. Note: The second time around I was worried there may not be enough liquid, so I added a little water. I will not do that again. Made it just a tad bit too runny. The batch without water was better.
★★★★★
I made this and it tastes wonderful! I only had 2/3 of the amount of pears called for, and adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. I let it simmer just a bit longer and left it slightly chunky. Can’t wait to try it on some pumpkin bread I’m making! Thanks for the recipe! It makes the kitchen smell heavenly!
★★★★★
Made this yesterday. Delicious! I cooked it down quite awhile to thicken. I popped one jar in the freezer to see how it will do. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Will this thicken more as it cools
★★★★★
I didn’t use the measurements, just chopped up some pears and added the rest. No honey so I used a small amount of home made hickory syrup. But you could use maple syrup too. Turned out really well – my kids loved it.
★★★★★
Pretty bland. Ended up adding more brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice as hubby has an old fashioned sweet tooth
★★★
This is SO good, and very easy.
★★★★★
This was my first time making any type of fruit butter and it was delicious! I made a double batch and canned it. Thanks!
★★★★★
Made this as written. It was just ok. The pears were ripe but the pear butter was still lacking in sweetness. My husband thought I forgot the honey. Also didn’t notice the spices as much as I thought we would. The process, however, was super simple. We will play with the recipe and try again! Thank you for sharing.
★★★
Easy and delicious
★★★★★
I burned the bottom my first time because I neglected to stir it throughout. Tonight, I stirred and only used 2 tbsp instead of 3 (I’m in WW), but it didn’t yield 2 cups.
★★★★★
Shoooooot! I used THREE PEARS, not 3 lbs. of them.
★★★★★
I added pears and spices but also added vanilla. It was to die for! Thanks for the easy recipe.
Isn’t the sugar content necessary to keep down bacteria?
What, if any, ingredient alterations need to be made for water bath processing?
Thank you
I’m using windfall pears so am concerned there’s not enough juices. Not sure what is ‘coming to a boil’ since no water added. Just getting started but have my doubts…
Made this tonight with red anjou pears and omg it is soooooo good. I got four 8 oz jars from it and I am definitely going to make some more!
★★★★★
A great simple recipe. Made one wonderful batch, now trying a few changes on the second: adding a few almonds, sliced and toasted, plus a drop of almond seasoning at the end as almonds so good with pears.
★★★★★
Exactly what I wanted to do! Easy, quick and delicious usage of my over abundance of lovely pears. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
This came out delicious, I added two apples to this recipe. Just the right amount of sweetness. Used pumpkin pie spice since I didn’t have any ground ginger. Great recipe.
★★★★★
I made it out of a rotten over-ripened bag of pears on my stove and it came back delicious.
★★★★★
Sorry, came out.
Question – there is not really much liquid.. how does this come to a boil?