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.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Easy Pear Butter
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: About 2 cups 1x
Description
This easy pear butter recipe can be made on the stove in 1 hour, and is perfect for spreading on toast other favorites!
Ingredients
- 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.
Can you hot bath it and can it for longer shelf life?
Can you make it in a crock pot?
Can you freeze this for later use?
Can you freeze the pear butter so it lasts longer than a week?
Yes, you can. When freezing, make sure you leave about an inch of space for expansion.
Can this recipe be canned? My refrigerator space is at a premium.
Wonderful receipe we love the flavor and give it away for holiday.Thank you
I halved the amounts and used cardamom instead of cloves and the pear butter came out beautifully (and the house smells amazing!). I used Bartlett pears. Definitely keep stirring every so often to prevent scorching.
So GOOD!!!
I made this for a turkey, cream cheese and pear sandwich! Yum!
VERY easy with excellent results. The only adjustment I made – and flavorings will depend on type of pear used – was to cut the honey by 1/3rd and double the lemon juice. I like less sweet and more tart spreads and this adjustment made it perfect. Using the recipe otherwise as written, there is no reason to worry about bringing it to a boil – the honey and lemon juice as well as the juices from the pears that soon appear take care of that immediately.
Can this be frozen?
Can this be frozen?