recipe: pear butter
I had a failed attempt at a Friendsgiving cocktail involving a crap ton of pears. Long story short, I forgot how to properly use my NutriBullet and it all just went down hill from there.
Needless to say, I was stuck with said 'crap ton of pears' - so pear butter it is! I had made apple butter before, so just improvised with this recipe adapted from The Queen.
I made it easier, although it's prettayyy darn easy to begin with...I'm all about that easy life. <---HA. So, here goes:
- 5 pounds Bartlett or Anjou pears (about 10)
- 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar (I used trader joes brown coconut sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Peel, quarter, and core pears. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in dark-brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on high, 4 hours. I added a smudge of nutmeg and clove, a dollop of local honey and a dash of this bourbon vanilla extract from Trader Joe's here... I am not the best at remembering measurements, but that's what makes cooking magical, right?
Remove cinnamon stick and reserve. Transfer mixture to processor (in batches, if necessary) and process until smooth. Return to slow cooker, along with cinnamon stick, and cook on high, uncovered, until mixture is thick and browned, 4 to 5 hours. Discard cinnamon stick and let mixture cool.
Jar it up!! Transfer to airtight containers and refrigerate, up to 3 weeks, or freeze, up to 3 months.
Voilá! Inexpensive, homemade, FANCY, freakin delish holiday gifts for neighbs, friends, gardeners etc!
