So lately I’ve been really struggling to find something that both the girls will happily eat. Especially something that doesn’t require effort on my part.
Just being honest about that!
Last week I bought some pears at the store because they were a really pretty deep red color, and you know…fruit…healthy….I’m sure my kids will happily eat it, right?
So they didn’t eat it. And to be fair, the pears were hard. Not unripe, just one of the types that is naturally hard. Know what I mean? So they weren’t super yummy.
But in a moment of sheer genius, I realized a few days ago that I also had a few apples languishing on the counter, right next to the pears. And I decided that in order to get my family to actually eat them, I was going to need to sweeten things up a bit. So I grabbed my slow cooker and made this:
Slow Cooker Pear-Apple Butter
- 3 apples and 2 pears (roughly 3 pounds total), peeled, sliced and diced
- (1) 50 oz container of unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground allspice
This is soooo simple, which is what I love. The most time intensive part is peeling, slicing and dicing your fruit. Once that is finished, throw the fruit in the slow cooker, and add all other ingredients. Give it a good stir, then turn it on low for 10 hours. That’s it!
Apple butter tastes FABULOUS in yogurt or oatmeal, and it even makes a great addition to homemade muffins if you are hardcore and actually make such things from scratch. I just put some in a little bowl and serve it as a side dish to my kids at lunch. It’s a hit!
Do you have any new ideas for kid-friendly foods that are working in your home? I’d love to hear them!
Want more slow cooker ideas? I’ve got a great list of slow cooker soups and a list of easy crock pot recipes. Give them a glance to see if anything intrigues your taste buds!
Do you think I could can it like jam?
Absolutely you can can this. I do Apple and Pear Butter all the time. 10 minutes in a water bath canner and you are done.
Can this be frozen? if so for how long?
I haven’t tried it, but I bet it would freeze just fine! I probably would only freeze it for a few months.
Yes you can put it in the freezer. Leave a lot of head space and use straight sided jars or put in freezer bags. I put it in ice cube trays. Throw them in freezer bags and use it in smoothies.
Hi Tiffany! Oh, this looks and sound so delicious! Would love to have some on an English muffin for breakfast! Thank you so much for sharing at Best of the Weekend – pinned to our party board. Hope you have a happy Friday!
I love making fruit jams and butter and this looks so yummy ! Thank you so much for linking it to Tasty Tuesday. Your butter has been featured this week. Hope you’ll drop by and share some more delicious recipes with us.
Thank you for linking up at Tasty Tuesdays! Your post has been pinned to my Recipes from Tasty Tuesday board. I can’t wait to see what you link up this week!
Have a terrific week!
Cathy
This sounds delicious!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Yummy! We make most of our own baby food and this looks perfect for our little one who just turned 6 mths! Cannot wait to try this with our canned pears and applesauce. Thanks for sharing on the Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop.
What a great use for those leftover fruits. Thanks for sharing at Sweet and Savoury Sundays, I’d love you to stop by this weekend and link up!
I have got to give this a try! I’ve always been a huge fan of apple butter. I bet it tastes great with the pears added too. I never thought it was something I could really do on my own!
Thanks for sharing at The Happiness is Homemade Link Party, You are being featured so make sure you come over on Sunday and grab a button! http://mommyondemand.com/
That looks good. We have a pear tree in our backyard and it gives more pears than we can ever eat. This will be a good way for us to use up those pears. I’ll have to pin this. Would love for you to come and linkup for the Let’s Get Real Blog Hop tomorrow at 5PM EST. mypinterventures.com
I love apple butter on waffles!
My toddler won’t eat apples so this might be a good way of getting her to eat them. It looks lovely.
This looks wonderful! I made some apple butter this past fall too, pears sound perfect in this too!!! Looks delicious!
I made apple butter a few months ago! It was the first time I had ever even tried it. It’s a hit with us! My favorite way to eat it is on a grilled cheese. That may sound strange, but it’s sinfully delicious! It brings a sweetness to the dish that reminds me of dad’d cheese toast!