I thought I would try and capture the last bit of summer here and make some jam with the amazing berries available right now.
Freezer jam is so incredibly simple to do and is typically much less expensive then buying good jam or jelly. Plus you can tweak the recipe to suit your tastes exactly. I happened to pick strawberry for my jam but any fruit would be delicious. This took me like 5 minutes to put together and now I have about 3 months of jam in the freezer.
One important note is that the sugar added will depend on how sweet your fruit is and your personal preference. My little girl and I made a batch of freezer jam that used 3x the sugar listed below and it was horrible. Sadly, I tossed the entire batch because it was so sweet neither of us liked it.
So the second batch I used significantly less sugar and we much preferred that. I would encourage you to start with 1/4 cup sugar and continue to increase it until you find the flavor you like.
I like to add lemon juice because it really gives this an extra zing but lime juice would also be good or you might even try orange juice.
- 2 lbs strawberries
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
- 1 packet pectin (about 2½ tablespoons)
- Wash and slice strawberries. Add to a bowl and use a potato masher to mash strawberries.
- Add ¼ cup of sugar, one packet of pectin (about 2½ tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Mix well.
- If you prefer chunky jam just mash to the consistency you like. If you prefer a creamier jam you can add the mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times.
- Continue to add sugar in ¼ cup increments until you achieve the sweetness you like.
This made about (4) 6oz containers of jam for me. You should be able to keep this in your fridge for 3 weeks or in the freezer for a year. I put one jar in the fridge and it set by the next day for me.
My Costco has great prices on organic raspberries right now so I think I am going to do a second batch with raspberry and lime juice.
This kind of thing can be a great gift! Grab some fresh scones from the bakery and a jar of homemade jam and you have a lovely hostess gift.
Here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
- 5 Minute Blackberry Cobbler
- Chai Sugar Cookies
- Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
- Greek Orzo Pasta
- Molten Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mexican Grilled Corn
- Crock Pot Maple and Brown Sugar Steel Cut Oatmeal
I was just “pinning” strawberry jam recipes that have a lower sugar amount added to them! So, excited to try this one! 🙂