This is a delicious recipe for a great comfort food, pear butter . I adapted my crock pot apple butter recipe, using different spices for the pear butter. It isamazing. It is not as heavily spiced as apple butter and the flavor of the butter is lightened with fresh lemon. Star anise, ginger, and nutmeg complement the pears so nicely and make it a very comforting flavor you can enjoy all year long. Making the pear butter in the crock pot is extremely easy. It will fill your home with the most lovely fragrance. Just add about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for every pear. Pack your crock pot full of pears, so you will have lots of pear butter to can. You can adjust your seasonings to taste. This recipe will produce almost 4 pint jars. It makes the perfect gift for the holidays, just tie a pretty ribbon around the lid.
Ingredients
- 16 pears, of any variety, peeled, cored, and chopped or sliced
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- the juice of 2 lemons
- 2 whole star anise
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
- Peel and core pears. Add to crock pot. Add water, sugar and spices. Turn crock pot to high and bring to a bubble. Turn on low and cook for 6-8 hours. Stir the pears about every hour or two. Pear butter is done when it has a deep color, pears are cooked to pieces, and it has thickened. Do not forget to remove the star of anise cloves before pureeing. You may want to use an immersion blender to puree the butter more.
- You can jar the pear butter by purchasing canning jars, sterilizing them, and running them in a water bath.
- To sterilize, place a dish towel in a sauce pot, and fill halfway with water. Turn the jars upside down in the pot in the cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil over medium heat for 15 minutes. At the same time, boil the lids, rings and the ends of your kitchen tongs in another pot for 15 minutes.
- Never ever touch the inside or top of the jar or lid with your bare hands. Use the tongs for the lids, and kitchen towels for the jars.
- Fill the jars. Take another kitchen towel and dip an end in the boiling water and wipe the top of the jar very clean. Place the lid on with the tongs, being careful not to touch it. Then take the tongs and get a ring, you can place the ring with your hands.
- When all jars are filled, place the filled jars in the saucepan with the kitchen towel and boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Remove and let cool on the counters overnight.
Angelia McGowan is the author of Southern Grace Gourmet, a family friendly food and cooking blog with many recipes, easy to follow instructions, and photographs.
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