Easy Peach Butter (2024)

Easy Peach Butter ~ you’ll kick yourself if you don’t make a big batch of silky butter before the peaches are all gone for the year. This small batch fruit spread is sheer heaven on a piece of toast, a warm biscuit, or just by the glorious spoonful!

When life gives you peaches, whether fresh, or frozen, make peach butter!

You can’t go wrong with this recipe, it takes a boatload of peaches and transforms them into something silky and spreadable. Your morning toast will never be the same.

what you’ll need

• peaches ~ you can use fresh or frozen, but use good ripe summer peaches for best flavor.
• sugar
• lemon juice adds a little acidity and balances out the sweetness of the butter.

Fruit butter is a thicker, more luxurious version of jam.

If you love apple butter, you’re going to flip for this next generation fruit butter. Peaches lend themselves to this treatment with their meaty flesh and sweet tangy flavor. Fruit butter gets it’s distinctive consistency because the fruit is cooked, then pureed, and then cooked down again into a spreadable ‘butter’. But of course there’s no dairy in it at all, just pure fruit.

small batch peach butter can be refrigerated, or canned

This recipe makes a small batch that doesn’t require canning, but I’ve included canning instructions in the recipe if you want to set yourself up for the year, or want to get a head start on holiday gifts.

When you get your first taste of this peach butter you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone to peach heaven!

I like the real fruit flavor to shine through in all my preserves, so I used relatively little sugar, and some lemon juice to make the peach flavor pop. Because I was after a pure fresh peach essence, I didn’t add any spices, but you certainly can if you like. Cinnamon, or vanilla bean would be nice in this recipe. Nobody’s stopping you from adding a touch of almond extract either.

let’s make it!

You can make fruit butter with almost any type of fruit. Apple butter is the classic, but I’ve made rhubab butter, and a wonderful cranberry butter that you’ll want to have around this fall. You can makepumpkin butter (made in the crock pot!) which is amazing with biscuits and cornbread. Would you believe I’ve even made banana butter with a touch of bourbon?? Here’s the basic method for making fruit butters:

1. Chop your fruit and add it to a pan with the sugar and some water.
2. Heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture comes to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the fruit is completely softened and juicy.
3. Puree the cooked fruit until smooth.
4. Strain your puree, if necessary, to remove seeds, bits of peel, or any lumps.
5. Put the smooth puree back into a clean pan, add lemon juice, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
6. Cool and then refrigerate. It will thicken further as it chills.

how to use peach butter

Fruit butters aren’t only for spreading on toast, or biscuits. They can be an ingredient in baked goods, too. They add flavor and moisture, and can help you cut down on added fat and sugar. My spiced apple cake, which is one of my current favorite cakes, is made with a cup of apple butter. I’m thinking of making a peach version with, oh, I don’t know, maybe a Bourbon glaze? Stay tuned 😉 You might also use some of your peach butter as a filling for these Jack Daniels peach pie bars… just saying.

If you love to make small batch butters, jellies and jams be sure to check out my ultimate guide to freezer jam!