Freshly ripe peaches are turned into delicious homemade Peach Butter, making summertime so much sweeter!
We are knee-deep into food preservation this week, friends! I mentioned in my Spicy Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe and my recipe for Double Chocolate Orange Zucchini Muffins how I recently scored a great deal on some fresh, local produce from a nearby farm. My kitchen has been going non-stop for the last couple of weeks, preserving all of those yummy fruits and vegetables! We’ve made our Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce, and now it's time for Homemade Peach Butter! I use this recipe found in my Ball canning cookbook which you can find here.
So, what is Peach Butter anyway, you ask? Unlike its peachy cousins, jam, jelly, and preserves, fruit butters are typically made with the pulp of the fruit that's cooked down into a concentrated spread. The final product results in a silky, smooth consistency. Jelly is often made only with the juice of the fruit and while it is more spreadable than jam, it isn’t as smooth as fruit butter. Jams and preserves have larger bits of fruit which results in a thicker, chunkier product. All are absolutely delicious, and all have their place in my pantry!
One way I like to use this summertime favorite is in my Peach Butter Waffles or as a topping on homemade buttermilk pancakes.
Warm Peach Butter is phenomenal as an ice cream topping or mixed in a bowl of oatmeal. Peach Butter is even fantastic in its simplicity on a piece of homemade bread!
Yield: About Eight 8-ounce jars or Four Pint Jars
Ingredients
4 ½ pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped
½ cup water
Juice and zest of one lemon
4 cups granulated sugar
Prepare for Canning:
To prepare jars for canning, I like to place my clean, room-temperature jars into my canning pot with room-temperature water. I allow my jars and water to come to the same temperature at the same time. You don’t want boiling water; you’re just heating everything up.
Place a clean kitchen towel on the counter space where you intend to place your hot jars once removed from the canner.
Once your sauce is ready for canning, carefully remove the jars from the pot using your canning jar lifter and empty the hot water back into the pot. Place the hot jars on the prepared kitchen towel and begin ladling in the sauce.
Tips & Tricks for the Canning Process:
If you have a water bath canner, you’ll want to use it here. I don’t have a separate canner for water bath canning, so I just use my pressure canner with the rack. However, I do not lock the lid in place and allow the canning lid to sit slightly ajar.
If you don’t have a water bath or pressure canner, no worries! You can simply use a large stock pot with a makeshift rack. Your pot should be tall enough so that the water covers the jars.
To make a DIY canning rack, you can simply tie five or six canning rings together and place your jars on top. If you have an Instant Pot rack you can use that instead. The main thing is you don’t want to place your jars directly inside the pot. Air and heat need to be able to circulate around the jars completely to ensure proper processing.
When placing your rings onto the jars, you want to tighten them with just your fingertips. If the rings are too tight your lids will buckle and can result in an unsealed jar. If you don’t tighten them enough, the water can seep into your jar and ruin your product.
Directions
You'll want to begin by preparing the peaches. After washing the peaches with cool water, boil them in a large stainless-steel stockpot for approximately 1-2 minutes until the skins become loose. Remove peaches from hot water and quickly rinse under cold water. The skins should slide right off pretty easily. Coarsely chop the peaches, then drain the water from your pot.
To a large stainless-steel stockpot, combine peaches, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft, about 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree just until a uniform texture is achieved. You don't want a liquid mixture; it should still have some thickness to it. Measure out 8 cups of peach puree.
In a clean large stainless-steel saucepan, combine peach puree and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and holds its shape on a spoon. Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving ¼ headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust the headspace if needed by adding more hot butter. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they're completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool for at least 24 hours, remove band, and store.
After Processing:
Once your Peach Butter has completed the 15 minutes in the canner, remove the lid from the canner completely. Allow the jars to rest in the pot for about 5 minutes or so. This will allow them to adjust to having the lid taken off of the canner.
Carefully remove the jars from the canner using your canning jar lifter and place on the prepared kitchen towel. Allow the jars to rest on the counter for 24 hours and listen for pops of the lids (my favorite part).
Remove the rings from the jars and gently press the center of the canning lid on each jar. If the lid pops back up, your lid did not seal properly, unfortunately. It happens! If it's just one jar, place that one in the refrigerator and use it within a couple of weeks. If it's several jars, remove all of the lids, wipe the rims of the jars with vinegar, add new lids, and reprocess again in the canner.
If your jars are all sealed properly (YAY!), use a little vinegar or soap and warm water to wipe the outside of the jars before storing.
Store jars in a cool, dark place.
If you enjoyed this delicious Homemade Peach Butter recipe, would you let us know in the comments below? We’d love to hear from you!
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