One of my fondest memories of my Gram is of her working in her kitchen, wearing a ruffled apron and putting up jars and jars of peaches. As I’ve mentioned before, my sweet Gram would can anything and everything. You name it, she canned it. Her cooking itself wasn’t really reputable, but her canned peaches were my absolute favorite.
Keeping with my goal of following in her canning legacy this summer, I set out to try my hand at canning peaches, starting with just a small batch. There really isn’t much of a secret to the recipe being that it mainly includes peaches and simple syrup, but I decided I couldn’t leave well enough alone and I added a split vanilla bean to each jar to give the peaches a little more depth of flavor. Turns out, the vanilla bean gave the peaches the extra credit they deserved.
And, well yes, I have to say it – canning peaches made me feel peachy keen. Also, it made me feel a little closer to my Gram and proud to carry on her legacy.
Feelin' Peachy - The Keenest Way To Can Peaches
Ingredients
- 2-2/12 pounds peaches
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 vanilla bean split
Instructions
- FOR THE SIMPLE SYRUP:
- Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup is clear. Turn heat off. Set aside.
- FOR THE PEACHES:
- Rinse the peaches.
- To peel, dip firm-ripe peaches in boiling water for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes to loosen skins. Dip in cold water and drain.
- Slip off skins.
- Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit.
- Place peaches in sterilized jars and fill each jar to the top, fitting in as many peaches possible.
- Place one half of split vanilla bean in each jar.
- Pour simple syrup over peaches, filling jar and leaving a 1/2 inch space at the top.
- Place lids on jars and tighten slightly. Place in hot bath for 20 minutes to seal jars completely.
- Remove from hot water bath, and let sit untouched for 2 hours.
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