Canned Peaches without Sugar! Sugar free Bottled Peaches

 

Last August, I shared an in depth post about how to can peaches! Including instructions for a light syrup, medium syrup and a heavy syrup. Well I’ve done even more canning since then. And more research. And I’m exciting to say my last batch of peaches I canned was sugar free! That’s right! No processed sugar. And in a blind taste test with my immediate and extended family, the sugar free canned peaches were the favorite!

Now when I say sugar free, I’m not referring to the canning recipe having absolutely nothing to sweeten it. I’m talking about the processed white sugar or high fructose corn syrup type sugar. What I used was 100% Grade A natural raw Honey. And it was amazing! And the canning process was so simple too!

Enjoying Sugar Free Canned Peaches

With all recipes you need to gather your supplies.

• Ripe Freestone peaches (obviously)
• Quart jars (wide mouth or regular)
• 100% natural Grade A Honey
• Lemon Juice
• funnel
• Lid lifter
• Jar Grabber
• Water Bath Canner

You will want to blanch your preaches, remove the pits and cut. You can cut in half or quarters. Your choice. Once all your preaches are pealed, pitted and cut, you can fill your sterilized Jars. Make sure you leave 1/2″ head space. Then add 1 tsp lemon juice in each jar after dry packed. This will keep your peaches from turning brown.

Then we move onto creating the “syrup”. All peaches need a syrup of some kind when canning. But we no longer have to settle for the sugar rich syrups from the old days. There is a healthier option for those that really don’t want to use a lot of sugar. And if you are looking for a more natural way, then our method of canned peaches is perfect! We use Honey in place of sugar and create a nice light syrup.

To create the syrup simply combine 1/4 cup grade A natural honey with 7 cups water. Bring to a boil. Then pour into the jars leaving 1/2″ head space in each jar.

Wipe the rim and put on the lids. Then process in a water bath according to your elevation, with a minimum of 20 minutes.

Remove the jars and allow to cool completely before you move or label them. As they cool you will hear the musical POP of the jars sealing themselves. As long as all jars seal they can then be labeled and placed in a cool storage room without direct sunlight. These will last near 2 years on the shelf and taste amazing!

Any jars that do not seal will need to be refrigerated and eaten within a week. If you have any questions about canning peaches, check out our How to can peaches in light syrup article. I go into a lot more detail on techniques.

As I mentioned before, some family had a blind taste test with our canned peaches. I gave each person a peach in light syrup canned with sugar and one of our canned peaches with a honey syrup. They honestly couldn’t tell you which one was canned with honey or sugar. But it was agreed upon that the peach with the honey had the better flavor and allowed the flavor of the peach to really shine more so than the canned peaches with sugar. And to ensure you, I did not disclose which peach was which until all opinions were voice. They were all quite impressed that their favorite peach was the canned peaches with the honey syrup.

I am truly enjoying our canned peaches. I eat them plain, on top of yogurt, in smoothies, and on top of cottage cheese for a great breakfast! You can even use them to make peach fruit leather if you were in need in the middle of the winter!

Have you tried using honey with your canned peaches?

What is your favorite way to eat canned peaches?