Spiced Apple Pear Freezer Butter Recipes

APPLE PEAR BUTTER (SLOW COOKER RECIPE)

Steps:

• Add the pear and apple chunks to a blender, along with the apple cider and the apple cider vinegar.
• Blend the fruits with the liquids until smooth and no chunks remain, about 1 minute.
• Pour the contents of the blender into a slow cooker. Add the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, kosher salt, and vanilla extract to the puree. Stir the spices and sugar, and vanilla into the apple pear mixture to combine.
• Cover the slow cooker and set the temperature to high. Leave the cover of the slow cooker askew to allow steam to escape from the apple pear butter as it cooks.
• Cook the apple pear butter for 8-12 hours, stirring the apple pear butter once every hour.
• Once the apple pear butter is done, transfer it into clean mason jars or storage containers. If you do this while the apple pear butter is piping hot, the heat from it will help vacuum seal the lids on the jars.
• Store in the fridge for up to one month.Use it as a spread, topping, or mixed into your favorite recipes.

VANILLA SPICED PEAR BUTTER

Steps:

• In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine the pears, water, lemon zest and juice.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, occasionally stirring, for 20 minutes.
• Working in batches, transfer mixture to a food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree just until a uniform texture is achieved. Do not liquefy. Alternatively, you may use an immersion blender.
• Measure 8 cups of pear puree (I used the excess as Pear Sauce).
• In a clean large stainless steel saucepan, combine pear puree, sugar, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.
• Stir until sugar dissolves.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and holds it shape to a spoon and liquid does not separate. This will take 6-8 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids:
• Wash and rinse the jars in hot soapy water. Drain the jars well of any excess water.
• Set the screw bands aside - they don't require sterilizing. Place the lids - the flat round portion of the two-piece closures - in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer. Don't boil.
• Keep lids hot until you're ready to use them.
• Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space.
• Remove air bubbles and adjust head-space, if needed, but adding more butter. Wipe rim.
• Center the lid on jar and screw band down until resistance is med, then increase to fingertip tight.
• Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes.
• Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

PEAR BUTTER RECIPE

Steps:

• Place pears, sugar, all spice and nutmeg into slow cooker and mix. Turn on high and cook for 4 -5 hours, until pear pieces are very soft. Once cooked, cool enough to mix with immersion blender, or pour into regular blender. Blend to desired texture. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly. Pour into jars to store in fridge or freezer.

SLOW-COOKER PEAR BUTTER

Steps:

• Place spices on a double thickness of cheesecloth. Gather corners of cloth to enclose spices; tie securely with string. In a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker, toss remaining ingredients. Add spice bag, covering with pears., Cook, covered, on low 5-6 hours or until pears are tender. Remove spice bag., Puree pear mixture using an immersion blender. Or, cool slightly and puree mixture in a blender in batches; return to slow cooker., Cook, uncovered, on high 1-2 hours or until mixture is thickened to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Store cooled pear butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Freeze option: Freeze cooled pear butter in freezer containers up to 3 months. Liquids expand as they freeze, so leave extra room at the top of the freezer container. To use, thaw in refrigerator.

SPICED APPLE AND PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Dough:
• Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Rub 1/4 cup of the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until completely absorbed. Then rub in the remaining butter until it resembles cornmeal mixed with pea-size bits of butter. (If it gets warm and sticky, refrigerate it to chill.)
• Beat the egg with 3 tablespoons of the water; then drizzle it evenly over the dough. Lightly stir the dough together with a fork. (The dough should just hold together when you squeeze it together, with some dry crumbly bits.) If the dough is really dry, sprinkle it with the final tablespoon of water. (To make the dough in food processor, see below.)
• Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and shape into disks. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (The dough can be frozen for 2 months. Defrost dough in the fridge overnight.)
• Filling:
• Finely grate the lemon zest and set aside. Peel, core and then slice both the apple and pear into 1/2-inch slices. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit, then toss fruit with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fruit and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves and juices simmer, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, until the fruit softens and the juices evaporate some, about 10 minutes. Evenly mix the flour into the fruit; then cook about a minute more to thicken the juices slightly. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest; and remove from the heat. (The filling should resemble a tight compote.) Cool completely.
• Form the pie:
• Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Roll a disk of dough into an 11 to 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to 9-inch glass pie pan (see photo), trimming so it hangs about 1/2-inch over the edge of the pan. Fill the crust with the prepared fruit so it mounds slightly in the center. Roll the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle. Brush the rim of the crust with some of the egg.
• Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the fruit so it hangs over the edge of the pie pan by about 1/2-inch. Trim crust if needed, reserving the scraps for decorations or for patching, if needed. Fold the top crust edge under the bottom one, then press the edges together to seal. Cut trimmed scraps into designs if desired and set aside. Flute the crust by pressing a finger into the crust against the other hand's index finger and thumb to make an even impression. Repeat every 1/2 inch around the pie to create a ruffled edge (see photo). Refrigerate the pie for at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 425 degrees F.
• Brush pie with egg and place cut dough designs on top if desired. Brush again and sprinkle with sugar. Cut 6 to 8 small steam vents into the top of the dough. Place pie on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake until the crust (both top and bottom) is golden brown, about 50 minutes more. If the edges begin to brown too quickly, cut a pie shield out of a piece of aluminum foil and cover the edges (see photo). Cool on a rack.
• Serve pie warm or at room temperature with whipped or ice cream. Keep pie, covered, at room temperature for a day, or refrigerate for up to four.

SLOW COOKER SPICED APPLE AND PEAR BUTTER

Steps:

• Cut the fruit into large chunks. Process the apples and pears in a food processor, working in batches, until finely grated. Transfer the fruit to the slow cooker.
• Sprinkle in the brown sugar, apple juice, molasses, allspice, cloves and salt, and add the cinnamon sticks. Cover and cook 4 to 6 hours on high heat.
• Remove the lid and reserve the cinnamon sticks. Carefully return the fruit, in batches, to the food processor and process until smooth. Transfer the processed fruit back to the slow cooker along with the cinnamon sticks. Continue cooking on high until thick and spreadable, another 2 to 4 hours. Allow the mixture to cool before transferring to sealed airtight containers.
• Refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.

SPICED APPLE PEAR FREEZER BUTTER

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine apples, pears, and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Reduce heat, cover and boil gently until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes. Using a potato masher, crush fruit.
• In a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar, pectin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, stirring until well blended.
• Add brown sugar and cooked fruit. Stir for 3 minutes.
• Ladle jam into plastic or glass freezer jars, leaving 1/2 inch or 1 cm headspace.
• Apply lids tightly. Let jam stand at room temperature until thickened, about 30 minutes.
• Serve immediately, if desiredd.
• For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 1 year.

AUTUMN APPLE-PEAR CHUTNEY

Steps:

• Submerge 6 empty half-pint jars on a rack in a large pot of water. Cover and bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low to keep jars warm until ready to fill.
• Combine apples, pears, onion, vinegar, sugar, cherries, lemon, mustard seeds, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves in a wide, nonreactive 4-quart pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once it bubbles, reduce heat to medium; simmer gently, stirring often, until mixture is thickened and a spoon drug through leaves a trail that doesn't fill in immediately, about 1 hour. Toward the end of the cooking, make sure to stir every minute or so to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.
• Working with one jar at a time, remove empty jars from canning pot. Using a wide-mouth funnel, carefully ladle jam into jars, leaving 1/2 inch for headspace. Use a clean wooden chopstick to work air bubbles out of jars. Check headspace again and add more chutney if necessary to bring to 1/2 inch from the top.
• Wipe jar rims, apply lids and rings (not too tightly), and return jars to canning pot. Cover pot and return water to a rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, remove pot lid, and let jars stand in the cooling water 5 minutes to help ensure a good vacuum seal.
• Move jars to a folded kitchen towel or wooden cutting board to cool completely before checking seals. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and eaten promptly. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. Sealed jars are shelf-stable at least 1 year.