This summer we had a bumper crop of peaches in the garden at Maple Cottage. In the rush to beat the pesky Japanese beetles to the bounty, I ended up picking many of them before they were ripe enough to eat "straight off the tree". So what to do with all these peaches....?
Fortunately, help was at hand! Barbara Rolek published a great peach butter recipe on The Spruce Eats (you can find the original post here) which uses just three simple ingredients - and I'm all about simple!
I did tweak the recipe a little - as you can see from pic above, no way could those be considered "large" peaches! So I used 10 small peaches and reduced the amount of sugar. I also substituted some of the white sugar with brown to give it a little more depth of the flavor. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing!
The quantities I used made 2 8oz jars with enough left over to fill a glass yogurt pot (one of those fancy Oui brand ones).
Tastes just heavenly on hot toasted bread!
Ingredients
5 large or 10 small/medium peaches, washed and pitted but not peeled
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
Method
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 2 hrs 35 mins | Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
Place the peaches and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until the peaches are soft, approximately 20-25 minutes.
Pulp the softened peaches with a blender (I used my Ninja smoothie maker) - this way you get to use the whole peach. Don't over-process, you want a fairly rough consistency, not too smooth. If you don't have a blender handy, pass through a food mill or sieve, discarding the skins.
Add the sugar (white and brown) to the pulp and stir well.
Place the sweetened pulp in a clean saucepan and cook on the stovetop over a medium/low heat, stirring frequently, for about 1 to 2 hours or until thick enough that the butter doesn't run off the spoon when turned upside down.
Pour the hot butter into hot, clean, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cover with hot, sterilized lids (or lids and rings if you prefer).
Process in a canning water bath for 10 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool before storing in a cool, dry, dark place.
Tip: If you don't process in a water bath, you can store the butter in the fridge for up to three weeks, or frozen for up to one year.
Comments