Lazy Peaches Canning Recipe

I don’t know about you, but I cannot help myself when shopping at my local farm stand. I go half-bushel crazy buying everything that’s in-season. From peaches and tomatoes to egg plant and bell peppers, when it is in-season I do not hesitate to stock up by the half-bushel full.

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It is for this reason my kitchen will often become overwhelmed, even spilling into my dining area. For the whole week, it looks like the fruit stand exploded in my kitchen. We all have been there, yet the joy of having food in jars totally outweighs the temporary mess.

Lazy Peaches was birthed from this chaos, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Especially knowing the peach peel contains so many nutrients, this recipe is more than beautifully delicious. It is a healthy, simple, time-saving recipe that drastically cuts the prep work time down. And time savings is a blessing when we are knee-deep into canning season with multiple recipes on deck.

To prep the peaches, I merely rinse and hand scrub each peach under running water to remove all of the fine peach fuzz. Once the peach feels less fuzzy and more slippery, I place it into a colander and move onto the next peach. Then, onto a cutting board I go.

Using a paring knife, I slice deep into the peach, moving the knife around the peach’s natural indentation. Then, using both hands on either side of the cut mark, I twist each half in the opposite direction and pull it apart exposing the pit. I then use a flat faced ice cream scoop to easily remove the pit from the peach. From here you may cut the peach halves into slices, or preserve the halves intact.

When raw packing jars, you may use more sugar if you prefer a thicker, sweeter syrup. I like using 1 teaspoon per pint jar because I do not wish to ingest much sugar and prefer to taste the peach’s flavor when consuming. Others, however, prefer to really sweeten their peaches, so they may add upwards of a tablespoon of sugar per pint jar.

If you prefer to create a simple syrup for your peaches rather than focusing on each individual jar, feel free to do so. Oh – and you may omit the cinnamon from the recipe, or swap it for another dried spice such as nutmeg, allspice, or cloves.

Lazy Peaches Canning Recipe

Makes about 8 pints or 4 quarts

This easy peach canning recipe skips the blanching and peeling step, saving home canners time and ensuring they enjoy the peach’s full nutrient value. The gorgeous color of the peach peel colors the syrup with its beautiful hue of reds and orange. With a touch of cinnamon in each jar to give it warmth, you will find many fun uses for this recipe when baking, creating desserts and more.

Ingredients

• 32 medium peaches, sliced or halved
• 8 teaspoons sugar, or honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 10 cups water

Instructions

1. Place 1 teaspoon of sugar in each pint jar. If using quarts, place 2 teaspoons of sugar in each jar. If you prefer to create a syrup on the stovetop, feel free to do so by using my chart here.
2. If using cinnamon (or another dried spice), add 1/8 teaspoon per pint jar, or 1/4 teaspoon per quart jar.
3. Raw pack the peach slices, or halves, into jars as tight as possible without mashing the peaches. Leave a 1/2-inch of headspace.
4. Next, slowly pour the water into each jar filling to the 1/2-inch headspace. The water does not need to be boiling water temperature, just be sure whatever temperature you choose, your canner water matches. We do not want to thermal shock the glass jars by placing cold jars into boiling water in the canner. I personally use cool water, and ensure my water bather also has cool water in the vessel.
5. Using a headspace measuring tool, gently remove any trapped air pockets and add additional water if necessary to maintain the 1/2-inch headspace.
6. Wipe the jar rims and screw bands with a wet washcloth dipped in vinegar. Add the lid and rings and hand tighten.
7. Place jars in a water bather and fully submerge the jars with water. Be sure they are submerged by 2-inches to account for the processing time. Using high heat, bring the water bather to a full rolling boil. Process pint jars for 25 minutes and quarts for 30 minutes, or according to your elevation. If you are packing jars with boiling water, or a boiled syrup, the processing time is 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. Remember, processing time does not start until the water is at a full rolling boil.
8. After processing time has completed, shut off the heat source and remove the canner lid. Allow the jars to rest for 5 minutes before removing them from the canner to cool.

I hope you enjoy this simple canning recipe I dubbed, Lazy Peaches. They are simply delicious and beautiful ‘ta boot.

Happy Canning!
xo
Diane, The Canning Diva®
www.canningdiva.com