Crockpot Peach Butter

Peach Butter

 On a recent trip to the Farmers Market, I purchased a bushel of beautiful, late-season South Carolina peaches to make peach butter.  I had never made peach butter, but I really enjoyed making apple butter last year and I had no idea, at that time, how much my family and friends would enjoy it over the coming months.  So, I decided to apply the same process with peaches.   

One thing I learned last year is that it takes a lot of fruit to cook down into a "butter".  For my bushel of peaches, I canned 14 pints of peach butter.  That equates to about 7 to 8 good size peaches per pint, or about 35 to 40 peaches for a 6 quart crockpot to yield about 5 pints of peach butter. 

Beautiful Late-season South Carolina Peaches

 I loved the coloring of these peaches, and the fragrance of them was heavenly.  I look forward to opening  jars over the winter and releasing the aroma of summer. 

Gorgeous Puree from the Peaches

 After I peeled and chopped the peaches, cutting out any brown or mushy spots (which were several as these were late-season, very ripe, cheap, and I bought such a large quantity), I pureed them in the blender with a tiny amount of water. 

Peach Water

 Even the boiling water I dipped them in, to facilitate easier peeling, turned a lovely rosy color.

I really considered the sweetness and spices I wanted to add to my peach butter.  These peaches were very sweet, so I knew I wouldn't be adding much sugar.  Additionally, there are many spices which are delicious with peaches, including ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  In the end, I decided to make my peach butter mostly "plain",  knowing I could add more sweetener and/or spices as I opened each jar.  The concentrated taste of peaches was what I was looking for.  And I got it!

Crockpot Peach Butter
10 quarts peach puree
2 tsp. lemon juice (I used Meyer lemon)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. allspice

Peel, pit, and chop peaches.  Place in blender and add a splash of water if needed.  I tried not to use any water, but my ripe peaches clunked around in the blender until I added some to get them started.  Pour the peach puree into a 6 quart crockpot until almost full. 

Continue to puree and pour peach puree, this time, into a bowl to refrigerate overnight. Stir in 1 tsp. lemon juice, cover, and reserve.

Into the crockpot, add 1 tsp. lemon juice, the sugar, and the allspice.  Turn the crockpot on low, cover with a spatter screen and cook overnight.  Next morning, the mixture should be reduced by about half.  Add the reserved peach puree, cover again with the spatter screen, and cook on low for about 3 or 4 more hours. 

Eat, freeze, and/or process in hot water bath according to canning methods for your area.

Yields 5 to 7 pints.  Enjoy!

Peach Butter on a Toasted Corn Muffin