My parents neighbors are proof that nice people do in fact still exist. Not only did they offer us all the pears we wanted from their pear tree, they also donated the remaining ones to local food shelters because they know they can’t possibly eat all of them. So instead of letting them waste, as many people do, they put in the harvest work to help people out. Genuinely nice people. I sincerely wish more people helped each other out. I also wish we utilized our land more to produce our food needs locally but that’s a whole rant for another day. So what in the world am I going to do with 3 bushels of pears I thought. I told them I’d make them a pie.. and pear bars.. and pear jam.. and and and.. hmmm. Time to experiment in my laboratory! Today we made all of these, though I realize the pear jam was more of a hybrid from applesauce so I figured it best to call it pear butter. I had no idea what I was doing, I totally winged it and tried to take some decent notes. I’m glad I did this time because I could easily eat a ton of this. I only made a small batch though because I was using it for pear bars which I will post the recipe for later. So here’s pear butter:
Ingredients:
3 cups peeled, sliced pears
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp each of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice
1 1/2 tbsp low or no sugar pectin
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat until pears are tender.
Move to food processor and puree to the texture of your liking. (I pureed mine pretty smooth so it would spread easily.)
Move back to saucepan and heat to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. (this part can get messy-I recommend a deep saucepan if you have one, otherwise be careful of splatters)
Add pectin and continuously stir on high heat for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Ladle into a sanitized glass canning jar, wipe lid and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.
Seal and refrigerate.
This is the way you’d make it to enjoy now. If you wish to can it there are directions on the pectin for proper boiling/sealing etc. I use Ball low or no sugar added pectin and it gives me great results.
