Pear Butter Recipe – small batch from windfall fruit

Last fall, when I picked pears, I was dutiful and busy and made pear cordial, pear vinegar, and pear butter! I cannot tell a lie – this year (2017), I was so preoccupied with other activities that by the time I remembered that I had picked a bunch of pears, most of them had turned to a sickly sweet mush. Whoops!

From the few pears that escaped the icky fate of their fellows, I whipped up a small batch of the pear butter I made last year. It didn’t make a ton, but the pear butter we made is quite tasty and worth the minimal effort it takes to make!

Pear Butter Recipe

This is my technique for making a small batch of pear butter. This recipe can easily be adapted for apple, pumpkin, peaches, or any other fruit (here’s my Damson Pear & Muscadine Butter). We ended up with two 4oz jelly jars and most of an 8oz jar from this recipe.

Ingredients

• 4-6 pears, chopped into chunks
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• Spices: Cardamom, cloves, ginger, cinnamon – add whatever you like!

Instructions

• First, wash and dice your pears into small chunks.  Reserve your peels and cores for vinegar-making!
• Add the pears, apple juice, and lemon juice to a cooking pot. Let it come up to a boil on low to medium heat.
• Turn down the heat to a simmer, add the seasonings and stir.
• Let it simmer on a very low heat until it is the desired consistency and flavor, stirring every 15 minutes so it doesn’t stick.
• All that’s left to do is store it or use it. Fill your clean jars, wipe them down, label them, and store them in the freezer after the pear butter is cooled to room temperature.

Pear butter is great on toast, with peanut butter, on pancakes, or warm it to drizzle over cheesecake. Seriously! If you haven’t tried warmed jelly or fruit butters on ice cream, you’re missing out!