This easy peach butter is perfect for fall! Simmer fresh peaches with maple syrup and a bit of cinnamon until they're soft and fragrant, then purée with an immersion blender for a rich, velvety spread. Vegan.
Homemade peach butter is the ultimate fall condiment. It's excellent on toast, over ice cream, or swirled into baked goods (add it to the filling of your favorite coffee cake or our small batch cinnamon rolls!)
Like our popular stovetop apple butter, this fruit butter is made without refined sugar: A splash of maple syrup is all you need to complement the natural sweetness of fresh fall peaches. Also? No peeling necessary! A good immersion blender will make quick work of those peach peels after a few hours on the stovetop.
While this simple peach butter recipe is fairly hands-off, it does take some time: Plan to leave it on the stovetop for at least 4 hours (it's a great project for a cozy afternoon at home!)
Ingredients Overview
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
This is a very simple recipe, but we still want to highlight a few things before you jump in:
- Fresh peaches are the star here! We recommend using very ripe, juicy peaches at the height of their season for the best flavor. Keep in mind fresh peaches can vary quite a bit depending on your location and the time of year!
- Lemon juice lends a bit of acidity to balance the sweetness of the peaches and give this spread more complexity. Bottled or fresh lemon juice both work!
- Maple syrup. Use pure maple syrup (not an artificial pancake syrup) for best results.
Variations and Substitutions
- Use frozen peaches if you can't find them fresh (you may just need to extend the cooking time a bit).
- Add a splash of bourbon, whiskey, or vanilla extract to the peaches as they cook for more depth of flavor!
- Swap the maple syrup for brown sugar or honey.
- Add extra spices. A pinch of ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg, or your favorite pumpkin spice blend are fun additions to this peach butter recipe.
- Use orange juice in place of the lemon juice.
Step by Step Instructions
Cook the peaches
Slice the peaches in half and remove the pits, then cut them into quarters (Need some help? See this article on how to cut a peach). You don't need to peel the peaches unless you really want to - a good immersion blender will get everything quite smooth!
Add peaches, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cinnamon to a medium saucepan (make sure it has a lid!) with a pinch of kosher salt (Image 1, above). Stir everything together (2).
Cover the pot and cook over low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the peaches have darkened in color and are very soft (Image 3, above). When they're ready, the peaches should be easy to squish with a spoon or spatula, and you should see quite a bit of liquid in the bottom half of the pot.
Blend until smooth
Let the cooked peaches cool for a few minutes, then use an immersion blender to purée the mixture (4). For best results, continue blending an extra minute or so even after the peach butter looks smooth (Image 5, above). This extra blending time helps achieve a silky-smooth texture!
Pro Tip: Work slowly and keep the immersion blender head fully submerged to avoid splatters! For more tips on proper immersion blender use, see our how to use an immersion blender guide.
Thicken the peach butter
Return blended peach butter to the stovetop - uncovered this time (Image 6, above). Keep the mixture over low heat: this lets extra water evaporate just enough to reduce the fruit butter without caramelizing it (which would change the flavor quite a bit).
Cook the peach butter, stirring occasionally, until it's darkened in color and has reduced to a thick, spreadable consistency (7).
The exact cooking time will vary depending the water content of the peaches you use, the size of your saucepan, and even the humidity in your kitchen. Keep an eye on the purée as it reduces, and use visual cues to help determine when it's "done". This can take some practice!
Storage and Freezing
Let peach butter cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. If you're freezing your peach butter, leave a little bit of headspace in each container to allow the spread to comfortably expand as it freezes. Defrost frozen peach butter in the fridge overnight when you're ready to use it!
Equipment Notes: We like freezing fruit butter in small deli containers or small mason jars so it's easy to defrost a little at a time!
Uses for peach butter
Use homemade peach butter similar to how you'd use your favorite jams or peach preserves: It's great on toast, waffles, vanilla ice cream, or added to a Thanksgiving cheese board! It can also add moisture and flavor to baked goods (swap it for the apple spread in any of our recipes with apple butter!) A few other tasty ways we're enjoying our peach butter this season:
- Dolloped on crostini with a bit of brie (à la this apple butter appetizer!)
- Swirled into yogurt with a drizzle of honey, fresh peach slices, and homemade granola
- Mixed into cinnamon roll filling for extra flavor
- Whisked into french toast batter (use our apple butter french toast as a guide!)
FAQs
Yes! You'll need a few small tweaks to make this work perfectly for a crock pot, and it will take some extra time to thicken once blended. We recommend using our slow cooker apple butter recipe as a guide if you'd like to make slow cooker peach butter.
Let peach butter cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
If you use a wide-mouth container, you can typically ladle cooled peach butter straight into it without making too much of a mess; if you're using a jar with a smaller opening, you may need to carefully spoon in the fruit butter or use a canning funnel to transfer it to the jar.
We like freezing peach butter in small deli containers or mason jars with tight-fitting lids. Leave about an inch of headspace at the tops of the jars or containers to allow the peach butter to expand as it freezes! When you want to use it, defrost a jar of frozen peach butter in the refrigerator overnight.
Unfortunately, no. This recipe has not been lab-tested or pH-tested for home canning safety, so we do not recommend canning this fruit butter with home canning methods (including a water bath canner, boiling water bath, or pressure canner). That said, this delicious peach butter puree freezes beautifully: We recommend storing it in small, airtight containers in the freezer and defrosting as needed throughout the year!
The exact amount of time it will take for this peach butter to thicken will depend on several variables, including the moisture content and size of your peaches, the size and shape of your saucepan, the exact strength of your burner, and even the humidity in your kitchen.
Don't worry if your peach butter looks a little runny right after you blend it! Just return the saucepan to the stove over low heat, stir frequently, and let any extra moisture evaporate until it reaches your desired consistency.
While this is a simple recipe, it does cook at a slow pace, and will usually take a full afternoon to cook and thicken. Be patient, and pay attention to the visual cues as you go along! We do find that peach butter and pear butter take a little longer to cook and thicken than our homemade apple butter: If you're used to apple butter, you may find this fruit butter moves a bit more slowly.
Let the cooked peaches cool completely, then put the mixture through a food mill or blend in a food processor until smooth. Regular blenders are a little hit-or-miss with this recipe: most high-powered blenders will do just fine, but this mixture is a bit too thick for some of the older blenders we've tested and doesn't always blend smoothly. We recommend an immersion blender, food mill, or food processor for best results! Once blended, you can return the peach butter to the stove and thicken normally if needed.
More fruit butter ideas
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
📖 Recipe
Peach Butter
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: Makes 3-4 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This easy stovetop peach butter is a great way to use those fresh fall peaches! Freezer-friendly.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fresh peaches, pits removed and cut into quarters (about 5-6 large peaches)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- pinch of kosher salt (about ¼ teaspoon)
Instructions
- Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 hours, until peaches are very soft and have darkened in color.
- Turn off the heat and let peach mixture cool, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to carefully purée the peach mixture until smooth.
- Return peach purée to the stovetop, leaving the saucepan uncovered this time. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until peach butter has thickened to your desired consistency. This usually takes about an hour, but the exact time will vary depending on the peaches you use, the size of your saucepan, and the humidity in your kitchen. Keep an eye on the peach butter as it thickens, and don't forget that the butter will continue to thicken a little bit as it cools!
- Serve peach butter warm, or let it cool completely and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Additions and Substitutions. Use honey or brown sugar in place of maple syrup. Adjust the exact amount of cinnamon to suit your personal taste. Add additional spices (ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, or pumpkin spice) if you like. Add a splash of bourbon, whiskey, or vanilla extract as the peaches cook for extra depth of flavor.
Do I need to peel the peaches? Nope! A good immersion blender will give you a pretty smooth peach butter, and you shouldn't notice much extra texture from the peels. That said, if you want the smoothest possible fruit butter, you can peel the peaches beforehand and/or run the finished peach butter through a food mill to remove any lingering texture. For best results, cook the peaches until they are very soft, and continue blending for an extra minute or so once you've worked out all the chunks to help the peach butter be silky smooth.
Storage and Freezing. Let peach butter cool completely, then transfer to airtight containers (we love using small deli containers or jam-sized mason jars). Store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Let frozen peach butter thaw overnight in the fridge when you're ready to use it.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
- Calories: 23
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 39.1 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.8 g
- Protein: 0.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
I love this peach butter so, so much. I actually prefer to eat it warm (vs. straight from the fridge), and it's one of my favorite spreads to add to a cheese plate at the holidays. There's a little bit of cinnamon, but it doesn't overpower the peaches - I love how much the peach flavor really gets to shine.