Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter (The Best Pear Butter Recipe)

This Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter recipe makes an excellent homemade gift during the holidays. I’ve included instructions on how to can pear butter as well so you can enjoy it for months to come!

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This recipe was originally published September 26, 2019. It is popular every year so I’ve updated it from the archives with additional information and new photos.

Making Homemade Pear Butter Recipe

I had a craving recently for this Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter.

It is so good warm on a buttery toasted English muffin for breakfast. So I bought a bunch of pears so that I could make it again since it has been years since I’ve prepared a batch.

I had great plans to make a really large batch and can it in these cute Weck Jars. I wanted to have some on hand in the pantry so we could open a jar whenever we wanted.

And I also thought it would be nice to have a little stash to gift to neighbors, friends, or teachers during the upcoming holiday season.

Preparing the Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter is actually pretty easy. For most of the day it is a hands off project.

Unfortunately, for me, the kids ate a bunch of the pears. I ended up with only enough to make a half a batch of the Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter recipe listed below.

So, I decided not to can the recipe since there really wasn’t that much. Instead, I just have a couple jars in the fridge and gave some to a neighbor friend.

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What is Pear Butter?

Pear Butter doesn’t actually have any butter in it at all. It’s basically a really thick, concentrated version of this Pear Sauce.

Think of fruit butter like a thick fruit spread, almost like a pear jam. Pear Butter is just a pear version of apple butter (if you’re familiar with what that is).

Pears are cooked down with sugar, warm spices (cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg in this case) along with citrus juices (which is what makes it a safe canning recipe using the water bath method), some water, and vanilla extract.

It cooks a lot longer than pear sauce, so it becomes thicker as more liquid evaporates, and it eventually caramelizes, producing a nice golden color.

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Tools Needed to Make this Recipe for Pear Butter

Here’s a quick overview of the kitchen tools you’ll need to prepare this old fashioned pear butter recipe. I recommend having the following on hand before getting started:

• Vegetable Peeler – to peel the pears.
• Cutting Board and Knife – to cut and core the peeled pears.
• Measuring Spoons and Measuring Cups – to measure the ingredients.
• Dutch Oven – something large enough to hold all of the diced pears with the other ingredients. It should have a heavy bottom so the bottom doesn’t burn easily.
• Food Processor – an immersion blender or potato masher would also work. You aren’t going to liquify the pear mixture, just chop the cooked pears until it they’re a uniform texture after cooking a bit.
• Airtight Container – you’ll need some kind of container to store this delicious pear butter recipe in after preparing it.

What Tools Do I Need to Can this Pear Butter Recipe?

If you plan to water bath can this pear butter recipe, you’ll need a few extra tools. Don’t worry, though, canning isn’t required. You can also freeze the fruit butter if you don’t feel comfortable canning.

• Water Bath Canner or Large, Deep Pot with a Lid and Rack – used for the water bath canning process.
• Glass Canning Jars, Lids, and Bands – check that your jars have to chips or cracks. You’ll also need to use a new lid on each jar as they are not reusable (glass jars and rings are reusable).
• Canning Funnel – to help fill the jars without making a mess.
• Ladle – to ladle the hot pear butter into each jar.
• Jar Lifter – you’ll want some canning tongs remove the hot jars from the water bath after processing.

Pear Butter Ingredients

The ingredients in this vanilla spiced pear butter recipe are relatively simple. Here’s what you’ll need to prepare it:

• Fresh Pears
• Water
• Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Ground Cinnamon
• Cardamom
• Nutmeg
• Fresh Orange Juice

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to make and can this fruit butter recipe, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

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What Are the Best Pears for Pear Butter?

It doesn’t matter what type of pears you use in this pear butter recipe!

I usually pick bartlett pears for this pear butter recipe because those are what usually go on sale really inexpensive at grocery stores, but I’ve also used D’Anjou, Bosc, and Red D’Anjou. You can use a mixture of different pears or all the same variety.

Almost any pears will work as long as they’re ripe (if the pears aren’t ripe enough, your pear butter will be slightly sour). You’ll know when the pears are perfectly ripe when they’re slightly soft to the touch and smell fragrant.

I do not recommend using Asian Pears to make this recipe for pear butter.

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Tips for Making Pear Butter

I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice in this pear butter recipe. Fresh juice will give you the best flavor!

Feel free to play around with the amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in this recipe. I like it as written, but you can add more or less to suit your tastes.

You don’t need to chop the pears too finely since they’ll be cooked down on the stove anyways. But you do need to peel them, otherwise you won’t achieve the correct consistency.

How to Store Pear Butter

Canning homemade pear butter is a great way to preserve this recipe, and my preference since it makes more than we would eat in a week.

If you haven’t canned before, canning pear butter isn’t that hard even thought it sounds like it would be complicated. But, if you aren’t comfortable doing that you don’t have to.

You can store the pear butter in the freezer to preserve it and just take out what you need as you want to use it (or gift it). Just make sure to use a freezer-safe container.

Plastic canning jars work great, but some glass canning jars are labeled as freezer-safe as well.

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Pear Butter Recipe FAQs

Got questions about how to make this recipe? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.

Ingredient Substitutions for Pear Butter

I don’t recommend making any substitutions for this recipe if you plan to water bath can this recipe for pear butter unless it is adjusting the amount of seasoning.

Altering the sugar content, the amount of pears, or the acidity (by omitting or substituting the lemon or orange juice) would affect the ability to water bath can the recipe.

If you are eating this within a week, or storing it in the freezer, you can make any substitutions that you would like.

Can I make this pear butter recipe with canned pears?

I’ve only ever used fresh pears, so I can’t speak to whether canned pears from the grocery store would work here. Possibly not, because canned pears are already cooked and they’re usually loaded with sweeteners.

How do I make pear butter in a slow cooker?

As a rule of thumb, I don’t stray from recipe instructions if I intend to water bath can a recipe because there are too many variables and I don’t want to upset the balance required for something to be safely water bath canned.

I’ve only ever made stove-top pear butter. That said, I think you can safely cook this in a slow cooker and still water bath can the pear butter if the recipe itself is unaltered.

I would research other recipes that make fruit butter in the slow cooker first and see what the instructions are.

If you do make slow cooker pear butter and it works for you, please leave me a comment below! Below is a comment from one reader’s adaptation of this recipe:

Crock Pot Pear Butter Tips

From reader Becky: “I love this recipe. Very experienced canner along with my mom and gram (over 130 years between us!!). I’ve always used a crock pot or in my case a 22 qt slow cooker. I did that for this one.

HOWEVER, it takes almost 27 hours to reach the same results as the stove top method. But I so much prefer this method and can get a much more consistent thick butter.

I use a mix of both canned (no sugar) pears and fresh. I adjust the spices as well but NEVER the sugar or lemon juice amounts. I’ve had mine tested at the UW extension for safety and it passed no problem.”

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Can You Pressure Can this Recipe

Yes, typically, you can pressure can anything that you can water bath can. Make sure you have the right tools and that you consult reputable sources for pear butter pressure canning instructions, as I personally am not an expert at pressure canning.

Some tools you might need are: Pressure Cooker Canner, The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning, and of course – canning jars.

Help! My Jar Lid Won’t Open!

Are you having a hard time opening your pear butter after canning? Head over to my post about How to Open a Jar for 5 proven ways to open jars with tight lids. I promise that it will help!

How to Use this Pear Butter

There are so many ways to use this Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter! Here are a few of our favorites:

• Pear butter makes a delicious spread on english muffins or toast.
• Add a spoonful to a bowl with granola and greek yogurt (or homemade yogurt).
• Stir some pear butter into a bowl of cottage cheese for a little sweetener.
• In place of maple syrup on waffles or pancakes – check out these recipes: 5 Grain Pancakes, Pecan Waffles, Fluffy Belgian Waffles
• On french toast, like this Pecan French Toast
• As part of a cheeseboard for a cheese tasting party.

What Readers are Saying About Pear Butter

Try this Easy Pear Butter Recipe!

Next time you’re looking for a recipe to use an abundance of pears, give this Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter a try!

Did you think it was a delicious way to enjoy pears? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this homemade pear butter.

On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me @goodlifeeats and #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see your photo of this Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter!

More Easy Pear Recipes:

Make this Pear and Pecan French Toast for a warm breakfast treat this weekend! You’ll love how classic french toast is taken up a notch with a caramelized pear and pecan topping.

A homemade galette crust is topped with a spiced pear filling and sprinkled with turbinado sugar in this Cinnamon Pear Galette Recipe. This is an easy fall dessert perfect for holiday entertaining!

This recipe for Maple and Cardamom Spiced Pear Compote is great with ice cream, yogurt, and granola. Such a quick and easy pear dessert recipe that I love making in the fall!

These Spiced Pear and Pomegranate Crostini are a delicious way to use up any other fresh pears you have lying around.

Don’t see what you’re looking for here? You can always head over to check out the recipe index to look for more pear recipes.

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What recipes have you canned?