If you've never had fruit butter, you're really missing out. I am not a huge jam or jelly fan...but it's tough for me to turn down fruit butter. Each year, I make large batches of apple butter (using the recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preservation). We eat quite a bit - and I give many jars away as gifts - to recipients who hope they'll get some next year, too. This year, I had extra pears, so I decided to try my hand at pear butter. Oh my, is it good!

(As an aside, pear butter isn't real butter, nor does it have butter in it. It's actually something like thick applesauce - but using pears. It's perfect for toast or muffins, or as a topping for ice cream, or for use in things like my oatmeal crumb bars. So why is it called pear butter? Probably because it's thicker and more spreadable than jam.)

HINT: If you don't want to can this recipe, you may also freeze it.

HINT #2: You may use this recipe to make pearsauce (like applesauce, but with pears). Just don't cook it down as thick as you would for pear butter.

Spiced Pear Butter Recipe

What You'll Need:

12 lbs. firm, ripe pears
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups granulated sugar (if your pears are overripe, use sugar to taste)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. If you plan to can this recipe and are not an experienced canner, please review the water bath canning guidelines. Prepare jars, lids, and canner.

2. Peel, core, and coarsely chop the pears. (TIP: For quicker peeling, use a soft skin peeler.) Toss into a large, stainless steel pot.

3. Add the lemon juice, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir together and place over medium high heat.

4. Cook the pear mixture, stirring often, until pears are tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture (or carefully transfer the slightly cooled mixture into a traditional blender and puree in batches, returning to the pot).

5. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the pear butter is the desired thickness. It should mound easily on a spoon. WARNING: Stir frequently to prevent scorching and be sure to cook the pear butter on LOW. Whenever people complain they burn fruit butter, it's because they are cooking it too hot and not stirring it enough.

6. When the pear butter has reached the correct consistency, ladle some into a hot jelly jar, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Bubble, add lid and screwband, and place in canner. Repeat until all the jars are filled or all the pear butter is in jars.

7. Process in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes.*

Makes about 13 8 oz. jars.

* NOTE: If you live at a high altitude, read this important information about adjusting canning times.