This pear butter is silky smooth and requires very little active time in the kitchen thanks to the help it takes from your slow cooker.
Spread it on toast, eat it with pear cobbler, swirl it into oatmeal, or just eat it out of the jar with a spoon.
Ingredients
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2 pounds ripe pears
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1/3 cup water, or pear juice
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1/4 cup honey, or 3 tablespoons sugar, optional
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1 lemon, zested and juiced
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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Peel and core pears.
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Cut peeled, cored pears into chunks no larger than 1 inch.
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Combine chopped pears together with water or juice, honey or sugar (if using), lemon juice, and zest in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high setting for 4 to 5 hours, until pears are soft.
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Use a slotted spoon to transfer pears to a blender. Reserve any cooking liquid left behind in slow cooker. Puree pears, adding just enough of the cooking liquid to get a thick, spreadable consistency.
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Transfer pear butter to clean half or quarter pint canning jars, using a butter knife, spoon, or your scrupulously clean fingers to press out any air bubbles. Leave 1/2-inch headspace between top of food and rim of each jar.
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Screw on 2-piece canning lids and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
Use Caution When Blending Hot Ingredients
Steam expands quickly in a blender and can cause ingredients to splatter everywhere or cause burns. To prevent this, fill the blender only one-third of the way up, vent the top, and cover with a folded kitchen towel while blending.
Tips
- It is important to peel them because just under pear peels there are specialized cells called scleroids that can have a gritty texture. Peeling the pears will give your finished pear butter a silkier texture.
- It is not necessary to sterilize the jars for this recipe.
Recipe Variations
- Spiced Pear Butter: A touch of cinnamon, spicebush, ginger, allspice, or cloves can go nicely with pear butter. But ground spices can turn bitter during the long cooking time in the slow cooker. Instead, wrap whole spices into a small cheesecloth bundle and add it to the pears and other ingredients. Remove the bundle and discard it before pureeing the pear butter. If using ginger, a 1- to 2-inch chunk of the fresh root is plenty. If using whole cloves, do not use more than two or three of them or they can overpower the more subtle flavor of the pears.
- Spiked Pear Butter: Instead of water or pear juice, use an alcoholic liqueur. Williams Pear Liqueur is an obvious and delicious choice, but cognac and other brandies are good with pears as well. A great option is Tawny Port and Pear Butter.
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
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148 | Calories |
0g | Fat |
40g | Carbs |
1g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
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Servings: 4 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 148 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 0g | 1% |
Saturated Fat 0g | 0% |
Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
Sodium 4mg | 0% |
Total Carbohydrate 40g | 14% |
Dietary Fiber 8g | 27% |
Total Sugars 24g | |
Protein 1g | |
Vitamin C 32mg | 162% |
Calcium 29mg | 2% |
Iron 1mg | 3% |
Potassium 331mg | 7% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |