How to Can Delicious and Nutritious Honey Cinnamon Peaches
We all know how delicious canned peaches can be, and making it from scratch is the best way to get the most nutrition while regulating the amount of sugar in the finished product. One way to make canned peaches healthier and more delicious is by adding a little bit of bee honey and cinnamon. Let’s take a look at a good recipe that illustrates how easy it is to make a batch for your pantry as well as your long-term food stockpile.
Ingredients
All you need to produce about 7 quarts of product is 2-3 lbs of peaches and 1 cinnamon stick per jar. You’ll also need a cup of real, organic bee honey and about 9 cups of filtered water. Don’t use synthetic or clove honey as it doesn’t contain the same nutrients that bees provide. You will also need to prepare your water bath canner and sanitize and preheat your jars and lids.
Getting Started
Make sure that you use quality peaches that are at their peak of ripeness. While you can use over-ripe peaches, you should remove any bruises, soft spots or other imperfections prior to processing. Once you’ve sorted the peaches, the next step is to peel them. The easiest way to do this is to dunk them in boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. This will cause the skin to wrinkle and start to lift off from the fruit.
When finished boiling, dump the hot water and replace it with the coldest water you can find. If you have ice, make an ice bath. You want to cool down the peaches to prevent them from over-cooking while making them easy to handle. Peel the peaches by lifting or scraping off the skin.
Processing the Peaches
Next, cut the peaches in halves or quarters and remove the pits. While you’re doing this, add the water and honey to a stockpot and bring to a low boil. Stir a few times as honey dissolves and is evenly-mixed with the water. Place one cinnamon stick into the bottom of each jar, and don’t worry if you need to break them up into a few smaller pieces. Next, add in equal amounts of peaches into each jar before carefully ladling in the hot water/honey mixture. If you are using halves instead of quarters, place the side where the pit was face-down.
Fill the water until the peaches are completely-submerged until ½ inch of headspace remains. Remove any air bubbles with the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula, and add more liquid if necessary. Wipe down the rims of the jars before attaching and tightening the lids. Place the jars in the water bath canner, but make sure that they are completely-submerged before processing. Process the jars for 30 minutes.
Finishing and Storing the Peaches
Remove the jars from the canner and allow them to cool on the counter top or table at room temperature for around 18-24 hours. Check each jar for any damage and to make sure that each one has a good seal. Label and date the finished product and place them in a cool, dark location for long-term storage. You can expect a shelf life of at least a year, but it’s always a good idea to rotate out your product every six months or so in order to get the most flavor and nutrients as possible.
This recipe will be sweet because of the honey and natural sugars that are drawn out from the peaches. This is also a great alternative to canning syrup-based products, particularly if you are keeping an eye on sugar intake. Try it for yourself, and feel free to experiment with different spices if cinnamon isn’t to your liking. You can even omit the spices altogether and just use honey instead.
In any case, this is one excellent method to use for storing peaches over the long-term, particularly when peaches are in season.
