No Sugar Jams and Jellies

Image Credit

It is SUMMER TIME! It’s time to pick berries, freeze them, make fresh goodies out of them, and CAN THEM! I LOVE homemade jam, but I do not like cooking with sugar. I did a little research for some no-sugar jams and jellies and wanted to share the awesome recipes I found! To make many of these recipes, you’ll need Pomona’s Universal Pectin, because you can use this type of pectin with honey instead of sugar. I am so thankful for this option. We don’t need more sugar, and fruit is so sweet on it’s own, anyways!

The equipment you will need for making jam simply includes a water bath canner with some basic tools, clean glass jars, and new lids that have never been sealed before. You might want some cute labels, but they aren’t necessary, you can use masking tape and a sharpie. You can get all of this equipment for under $100. You do not need a pressure canner to preserve jam, though you will need one if you plan to can meats or low acid vegetables (even tomatoes these days, as many of the hybrid tomato varieties are less acidic than their heirloom ancestors).

Check out these recipes!

This No-Cook Strawberry Freezer Jam with Raw Honey from The Prairie Homestead is made with honey. Yum!

If you’ve got chokecherries in your area, you might just want to try this Chokecherry Jelly from The Prairie Homestead, with an option to use honey in place of the sugar.

Mommypotamus shares Urban Poser’s recipes for Honey Sweetened Freezer Jam, with Raspberry & White Tea and Peach Rooibos flavors.

There’s also an Organic Strawberry Jam from Whole Lifestyle Nutrition that uses coconut palm sugar and arrowroot powder and should be used as a freezer jam.

Homemade Apple Butter sounds yummy! This is from Health, Home & Happiness and it uses 4 simple ingredients: apples, honey, water and cinnamon! It can be stored in the freezer, fridge, or canned.

Ever heard of a Tomato Jam? I just got a bunch of free tomato plants (yay!!) and I am planning to make this recipe this summer! This tomato jam from Food Loves Writing is sweetened with honey.

This Strawberry Basil Jam from Food Loves Writing uses honey, also!

This Naturally Sweetened Freezer Jam from DIY Natural is made with fresh strawberries and honey.

There are also a couple of cookbooks that have jam & jelly recipes without refined sugars:

• Putting it Up with Honey is a book that I own. It’s an older book, but well worth purchasing!
• Naturally Sweet Food in Jars
• Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin: The Revolutionary Low Sugar, High Flavor Method for Crafting and Canning Jams, Jellies, Conserves and More

photo credit

Which recipes do you think you’ll be making this summer?