Spiced Peach Butter

4-41/2 pounds peaches (about 18 medium)
4 cups sugar
1/4 t. each of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon

Wash and blanch peaches. Put peaches in cold water;peel, pit and slice peaches.

Combine peaches and 1/2 c. water in a large saucepot. Simmer until peaches are soft. Puree in a food processor, food mill, or blender being careful not to liquify. Measure 2 quarts peach pulp.

Combine peach pulp and sugar and spices in a large saucepot. Cook until thick enough to round up in a spoon. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps and process for 10 minutes in boiling water canner.

To make butter WITHOUT spices-just exclude.

This recipe is adapted from the Ball Blue Book of Canning.

*This was my first time making peach butter so I underestimated the cooking time. It is more like a peach compote/jam. It needed to cook much longer to make the consistency I like. To make my apple butter, which turned out perfectly, I used my roaster oven-and cooked the applesauce down for HOURS. I will try that next year with peach butter too.