Honey-Spiced Peaches

By Hklbrries

Editors wrote, “These zesty peaches add a burst of spicy fruit flavor to any oatmeal or bran muffin mix. Add about 1 cup drained, coarsely chopped peaches to the batter just before baking.”

Note: See "Canning - The Fruits of Summer’s Labor" in this collection.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups liquid honey
• 8 pounds small peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, treated to prevent browning and drained
• 6 cinnamon sticks (about 4 inches each)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon whole cloves

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare canner, jars and lids.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar, water and honey. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low, add peaches one layer at a time and warm until heated through, about 3 minutes per layer.

Using a slotted spoon, pack hot peaches, cavity side down, into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover peaches, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 25 minutes (adjusting for altitude). Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Note: You also can pack the peaches into 8-ounce jars, using half the quantity of spices per jar. Processing time is the same as for pint jars.

Variation: For a different flavor, substitute 1 large star anise for the cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice in each jar. Use small stars when packing into 8-ounce jars.