I always look forward to making homemade crock pot apple butter every fall. I never knew that pear butter was even a thing, but apparently a lot of people like it so I had to give it a try. It’s just as easy to make as apple butter, and tastes just as great!
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You can prepare this pear butter recipe either in a crock pot or a large stock pot. I like using the crock pot because you can just leave it cooking all night and not have to worry about leaving it cooking on the stove.
Note: You don’t have to can this recipe. You can freeze this pear butter in these inexpensive freezer containers.
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Ingredients:
- 7 lbs. pears, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 c. orange juice
- 4 c. sugar
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
The pears don’t need to be chopped into small pieces. Just make sure you remove the cores and seeds of the pears. I cut my pears into large chunks.
Place the chopped pears and orange juice into a crock pot and turn the crock pot on high. It will take an hour or so for the pears to be cooked all the way through.
Related Article: How to Quickly Ripen Pears
Related Article: Best Pears for Canning: A Guide to the Juiciest and Most Flavorful Varieties
When the pears are soft, use an immersion blender to completely blend the pears until they are the consistency of applesauce. You can also use a food processor or blender to do this, but you can do it right in the crock pot with the immersion blender.
After the pear sauce is blended, stir in the sugar, vanilla extract, and nutmeg.
Turn the crock pot to low and let it cook down over night or at least 8 hours, until the pear butter reaches the desired consistency. It will get thicker the longer you let it cook.
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Canning Instructions
Sterilize your jars, lids, and rings by running them through a quick rinse cycle in the dishwasher.
Fill a boiling water canner half full of water and bring the water to a boil.
Fill the sterilized jars with pear butter, leaving 1/2 inch head space. You can easily measure the head space with this inexpensive canning funnel.
Use a damp paper towel or kitchen towel to wipe the rims of the jars. Place the lids and rings on the jars finger tight.
Put the jars in the boiling water canner, and make sure that there is 1-2 inches of water above the jars. Bring the water to a boil and process the jars for 10 minutes.
Remove the jars from the canner and place them on the kitchen counter to cool. Sealed jars can be stored in your pantry for 1-2 years.
Like this recipe? You might also like my recipe for pumpkin butter.
Related Recipes
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- Canning Pear Sauce
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- Cranberry Pear Jam
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The pear butter came out wonderfully. My husband and I bought a house with a pear tree last year and the turnout from the tree this year has been insane. This was a great recipe to use up some of the many many pears we have. I think I’ll cut the sugar in half the next time I make it though, it’s a little on the sweet side for me. But other than that it was great! Easy and very helpful. Thanks so much!
My pear butter did not get as brown as the picture shown. Went by recipe. I did add a small amount of cinnamon, but not brown. Looks like applesauce.
I just made this butter and by following cooking times it was light in color too. I continued cooking and ended up with a thick dark brown butter. I started in the crockpot and it went all night..probably 10 hours. It had a thin texture and light color. I moved to the stove stop and simmered for about 3 hours with the lid cracked. It is absolutely delicious and looks like the pictures in the post. I hope you try it again!
When you call for 7 lbs of pears, do I weigh them before or after I peel and core?
Approximately how much does this recipe make? I’m just wondering how many jars to prepare.
Can you freeze this?
Hi! I haven’t tried freezing it, but I don’t know why you couldn’t.
Freezes very well
Do you also peel the pears before cooking! Or make pear butter with the skin?
Hi! Yes, you want to peel the pears for this recipe.
Is it only one teaspoon nutmeg?
Hi! Yes it is only 1 tsp. of nutmeg feel free to adjust it according to your taste. It won’t affect the recipe.
What to do if doesn’t thicken. Been cooking over 12 hrs. Thanks.
Hi! It does take a long time to cook, but you can add a little Clear Jel to it to help thicken it.
Did I miss somewhere as to how many pints this makes? I’m planning on making this today. Thank you in Advance.