Simple Honey-Cinnamon Canned Peaches

AUGUST 21, 2013 BY JILL WINGER

There are two things I don’t like about canning.

#1- I don’t like how hot it makes my kitchen. But since building a summer kitchen isn’t on our current to-do list, I can’t do too much about that problem for the time being.

#2- Many canning recipes call for boatloads of sugar… For some recipes, like my honey-sweetened Chokecherry Jelly or my Strawberry Freezer Jam, I’ve learned how to use alternate sweetener or special pectin to avoid cups and cups of white sugar. But for the longest time, I avoided canning fruits like peaches or pears because I assumed that you simply had to use loads of sugar to get the job done.

Now– sometimes sugar is required in a recipe to ensure that the preservation is done properly and in a safe manner. However, after a little research, I learned that in regards to peaches, this was NOT the case. Most folks can peaches or pears in either a light or heavy sugar syrup, but this is done for flavoring purposes only, and it has no bearing on the safety of the process. You could actually can peaches in plain water, if you wanted too.

The peaches I had waiting on my kitchen table were plenty sweet enough, so I settled on a very lightly-sweetened honey syrup.

Honey Cinnamon Canned Peaches

Yield= 7 quarts

New to canning? Check out my water-bath canning tutorial before getting started!

• Ripe peaches (you’ll need 2-3 pounds per quart jar- I always buy more than I need, since I like to gorge myself on fresh peaches.)
• 9 cups water
• 1 cup honey
• 7 cinnamon sticks

Naked peaches…

1. Peel the peaches. The easiest way to do this is to dunk them in boiling water for 2 minutes, and then immediately dump them in ice cold water. The skins will come right off. SO much easier than using a knife, and less waste, too.

2. While you are working on your peaches, bring the 9 cups of water, and 1 cup of honey to a boil in a medium saucepan.

3. Remove the pits from the peaches, then halve or quarter them. You could even cut them into small slices, but I like to just cut them in half since it takes less time.

4. Place 1 cinnamon stick in the bottom of each sterilized quart jar.

5. Fill the jar with the peaches, placing them pit-side down (if you are using halves)

6. Fill the jar the rest of the way full with the hot honey-water solution. Leave 1/2″ headspace.

7. Adjust lids and process quart jars in a hot water-bath canner for 25 minutes.

Kitchen Notes

• To get the rest of the details about the canning process (like how to properly tighten lids, and how to determine headspace), read my water bath canning tutorial.
• The peeling method I mentioned works the best if your peaches are nice and ripe– not necessarily mushy, but definitely soft.
• You can use pint jars if you like– just process them for 20 minutes instead.
• As written, this is a very lightly sweetened syrup. Feel free to taste it before you pour it into the jars, and add more honey if you like it sweeter.
• Don’t like cinnamon? Simply omit the sticks for basic honey peaches.
• A lot of folks add lemon juice or citric acid to their peaches to prevent browning. I didn’t, and I still think the color is ok. Even if they were a bit brownish, it wouldn’t bother me I guess.

This little recipe most definitely did NOT disappoint! I can’t wait to enjoy these all winter long on oatmeal, ice cream, and just because. 

In the thick of canning season? Check out my Six Tips for No-Stress Canning!

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