Dairy-Free Pear Butter Recipe (made with Dried Fruit!)

Some of us might be resting after a whirlwind of holiday baking, but the sweet surprises never stop in Hannah Kaminsky’s kitchen. She created this wonderful wintery pear butter recipe in the midst of summer. It’s made with dried fruit, so you don’t need to wait for pear season. Nevertheless, it’s a comforting cool weather spread, and a great way to prevent those dried fruit Christmas gift baskets from going to waste.

Dairy-Free Pear Butter made with Dried Fruit

This pear butter is delicious on freshly baked dairy-free scones, slathered on a thick slice of toast, or dolloped on pancakes. You can even use it in recipes, replacing some of the dairy butter. Fruit butter is naturally dairy-free, but it still has a great texture that adds body and moisture to baked goods.

And you don’t need to feel married to one fruit. Try other dried fruits, swap in a different liquid or sweetener, and add different spices, as desired. Other “fleshy” fruits like dried plums, nectarines, and apricots also work quite well.

Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Pear Butter

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-ree, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.

Pear Butter made from Dried Fruit

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

This recipe is quite forgiving with substitutions. You can use different fruit, substitute vanilla extract, swap in another sweetener, or even use a different liquid. Just make sure the dried fruit rehydrates thoroughly, so it blends well.

Author: Hannah Kaminsky

Recipe type: Spread

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

3 cups (about 12 ounces) dried pear halves
2 cups unsweetened apple juice
⅓ cup maple syrup
Juice of ½ lemon
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

Add the pair halves, apple juice, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla to a pot, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all of the dried pears are soft and rehydrated, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pot from the heat, and let the mixture cool for a 10 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to your food processor or blender and puree until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. The mixture will be extremely thick.
Spoon the pear butter into airtight containers, and refrigerate. It will keep for up to 2 weeks, and will thicken a little more as it cools.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1/12 recipe Calories: 70 Fat: .1g Saturated fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 17.2g Sugar: 13g Sodium: 3mg Fiber: .1g Protein: .3g