This naturally sweetened gingery peach butter is fragrant, flavorful, and brightly hued. It’s great stirred into yogurt or eaten directly from the jar with a spoon.
A couple weeks ago, the annual box of peaches and nectarines arrived from the folks at the Washington State Fruit Commission. This is the seventh summer I’ve been part of their Canbassador program. I always enjoy the challenge of finding new and delicious ways to preserve all that goodness.
This year, I’ve made four different preserves. Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Gingery Peach Butter. Tomorrow, I’ll have a batch of Peach Habanero Hot Sauce. Next week, you’ll see recipes for Nectarine Conserve and Nectarine Ketchup.
I’ve got a new trick to tell you for prepping peaches. For this preserve, instead of peeling them, I gave them their initial cook in a pressure cooker (an Instant Pot, to be exact). The added heat and pressure helped break the skins down. That made it possible to blend the skins into the pulp for a perfectly smooth puree.
Now, if you don’t have a pressure cooker, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make this preserve. But in that case, you might want to peel the peaches to ensure a lush, smooth texture.
Once your peaches are pureed, you add just a little bit of honey and three heaping tablespoons of grated ginger and cook it down. Wanting to retain a softer texture and brighter color, I didn’t take this one as far down as I sometimes do. That makes it’s a lighter spread, better for drizzling over pancakes and stirring into yogurt.
How have you been preserving your peaches this summer?
Honey Sweetened Gingery Peach Butter
Ingredients
- 6 pounds peaches
- 1 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- Wash the peaches well. Cut them into quarters and remove pits.
- If you have a pressure cooker, heap the peach quarters into the pot, add one cup of water, bring it up to high pressure and cook for 8 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally. Once the peaches have cooled a little, puree them with an immersion blender. Pour the peach puree into a low, wide, non-reactive pan.
- If you don't have a pressure cooker, peel your peaches and place them in a low, wide, non-reactive pan. Simmer them until tender and then puree.
- Add the honey and ginger to the peaches and stir to incorporate.
- Set the pan over medium heat and simmer the butter until it has reduced by about 1/3 and you like the consistency.
- When you're happy with the thickness of the butter, remove it from the heat and puree it again with the immersion blender to break up any clumps that formed during cooking.
- Funnel the finished butter into pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
- When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortable handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
I was supprised by the flavor of this butter. Even my husband, who doesn’t care for peaches, likes it.
After canning it though, it occurred to me that fresh ginger isn’t acidic enough to be canned without being balanced out. Might I ask if the final acidity was tested? I know many people don’t if the main fruit is one that’s safe to can on its own.
My concern stems largely from the fact that how much a tblsp of grated anything is depends on how finely an individual grates it and how tightly they tend to pack it. If it’s too close, then some of us may not have a reliable product. I’m heavy handed and ended up using an entire root which weighed a little less than 40 grams. I know I’m probably over thinking things here with such a small amount, but I’m relatively new to canning. Thanks!
Yellow peaches are highly acidic and they provide enough acid to cover the presence of the ginger. There’s not enough additional ginger in this preserve to tip the balance of safety.
Warning do not release the air-valve switch too soon on your Instant-pot. Let it sit a LONG time or you will have juice sputtering out of it.
We like using peach butter on ice cream and french toast. I plan on using it in peach chiffon pie too;
Thank you!
Good reminder! Thank you.
I’m excited to try this but I don’t cook with honey. Best substitute? And amount?
Here’s a sugar sweetened version of my peach butter. https://foodinjars.com/recipe/slow-cooker-peach-vanilla-butter-2/
This sounds wonderful! I’ll be trying it soon. Probably with a jigger of bourbon added late in the simmer…
I do love canning but I’m wondering if I could freeze this? What do you think?
Sure.
Hi Marisa! I love your recipes! I recently started a blog of my own, I just uploaded a post about canning and I referenced your amazing books there. You can check it out here: citystartcountryheart.wordpress.com
BEFORE YOU TRY THIS: This recipe needs to be edited to include some liquid added to the pressure cooker! I was skeptical, and rightly so; I decided to try it as written and the peaches scorched on the bottom on my brand new Instant Pot. They also did not cook in the eight minutes without water, so I had to add some and start it all over again. Not adding the minimum required liquid to a pressure cooker is a known hazard and could ruin your pressure cooker. Pressure will not build up without water vapor. I’m a great fan of all of Marisa’s recipes, but this is just not advisable. Add a little liquid, either water or fruit juice, don’t risk ruining your expensive equipment.
By the way, this is, as usual, is yummy! Might even rival my personal favorite, the Strawberry Jam with Balsamic. My Colorado peaches, while fully ripe and juicy, were on the tart side, so needed a bit more sweetener. Don’t be afraid to adjust! I also cooked it down longer, so it wasn’t exuding liquid when chilled, so got a yield of about 4 1/2 pints.
Oh, and my husband the chile freak suggested trying it with a little chipotle in it next year.
Laurie, I’m so sorry that you had trouble. My peaches just must have been incredibly juicy. I will amend the recipe to include your advice.
Marissa, your Gingery Peach Butter looks so good. I do have an Instant Pot and want to try making the butter. So—–after I puree it, can I just leave it in the pot and cook it down using the slow cooker part or maybe the Saute’ on Less. Did you try that? Thanks
I didn’t try finishing the cooking in the Instant Pot because I wanted to have more control over the heat and width of pan. It might work, though. If you try it, let me know!
I just canned some peach jam. I eat it so fast but always save myself a jar to open on my birthday in March.
Do you have to start with some water in the pressure cooker? You didn’t mention it but my Instant Pot says to always start with approx. 1 cup of water in the bottom.
Because the peaches were so juicy, I skipped adding any liquid and just brought it up to pressure, knowing that they would express enough liquid to prevent burning. However, if that makes you nervous, add a little water.
Marisa, could you put the peaches in a crockpot/slow cooker until they break down and then proceed with the recipe/canning process?
You could. I would still peel them, though, because the skins are not going to break down as well without the increased heat and pressure that comes from a pressure cooker. I’ve made peach butter in the slow cooker with skin on peaches in the past, and the bits of skin always remain. https://foodinjars.com/2014/09/slow-cooker-peach-vanilla-butter/
Great, thank you so much! That’s super helpful! I’ve never made peach butter and I can’t wait to try it.
MAN that looks good!!! Even though the frost precluded any peaches I might have had this year, I will have to get some from the local orchard and make some of this. Simplicity itself! But I will probably cook it down more, for spreading over hot biscuits in the cool weather–a taste of sunshine!