Peach Pit Liqueur

Ever wonder what to do with all those peach pits left over from making jam, fruit leather, brandied peaches, peach wine, cobbler, pie, shortcake and canned peaches? Try peach liqueur—it’s very easy to make.

Collect three cups of pits. You can store them for a couple of days if you need to, but after that they start to lose flavor. Using a stiff vegetable brush or the tip of a pointed knife, scrape off the strings and peach bits clinging to the pit.

Place the pits in a quart mason jar, and top off the jar with unflavored vodka. Tighten on the lid. Leave it on your kitchen counter so you will remember to shake it every day for the next 40 days until it is ready.

Decant the vodka off the pits and set the pits aside. Take a whiff of the vodka and have a little taste. You might be surprised that the flavor is nothing like peaches—instead the vodka is almond flavored. Now you have a choice: you can bottle it as is, or if you prefer a sweeter liqueur that tastes like amaretto, make a simple syrup and add it to the vodka. You can also add vanilla or a cinnamon stick. Experiment to see what suits your taste.

And don’t throw out those used peach pits yet. You can keep covering them with vodka and make liqueur all year long until the next harvest of peaches.
–Cammy Watts