I’ll start this by blaming the alcohol and the heat.  And my family.  Last week we were on vacation with my parents, siblings/spouses, and kids/cousins in Orlando.  And it was hot.  Like 100 degrees hot with stifling humidity.  We went to Sea World and I nearly melted.  Don’t believe me?  Ask my husband.  I have no tolerance for discomfort.  And dropping hundreds of dollars to walk around a crowded theme park in 100 degree heat is pretty much my idea of pure pain.  And at the end of the theme park days, my siblings and I all agreed that our kids were much happier at the pool with their cousins.  I am pretty sure they will have better memories of swimming for hours on end (with their best buds in the whole world) than they will of trudging around theme parks and waiting in lines in practically dangerous heat.  Or that is how we justified it.

My memories, however, will be a little dimmed.  Because we sat around the pool in the heat, and my goodness, how could we not have a cold drink?  It was HOT, remember?  OK, maybe one cold beer with lunch.  Or a frozen layered daiquiri with a rum floater.  Or a mojito.  Or three mojitos.  Once it hits the lips, you know?

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We had an absolutely fantastic time and I am sad today thinking of how hard it is to get the whole family together any more — as the kids get older and the distances get further and the schedules get busier, I realized that this was an almost once in a lifetime opportunity.  So you will forgive me for not feeling like writing up recipes while I was away, won’t you?

And I realize that most of us are now past strawberry season.  Frankly, I was lucky to get any jam made in the flurry of the last week of school, packing, and getting ready to go.  So, if you have some strawberries left, give it a whirl.  Otherwise, wait for raspberries or blueberries.  I bet they would work equally well.  I set out to create a batch of jam that used honey — because the standard recipe for strawberry freezer jam requires four cups of sugar.  FOUR CUPS.  Are you kidding me?  That scared me off right away and I can’t believe I hadn’t given it a second thought before.

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And I do freezer jam because I am still too scared to can.  I am pretty convinced I’ll give my family botulism and everyone will make fun of me on my deathbed.  “I can’t believe she didn’t sterilize the jars for 10.2 minutes.  What was she thinking?  It’s just so sad.”

So, here’s the recipe.  Now I am off to take a run and detox from excessive alcohol and french fries.

Honey Strawberry Freezer Jam

Makes about six 8-10 oz. jars

4 pints of strawberries (about three pounds of berries)
1 cup of apple juice
1/2 cup of water
1 package of No Sugar Needed Pectin
1 T lemon juice
1 cup of honey

1.  Clean and stem berries.  Mash one layer of berries at a time in a large bowl until all berries are mashed.

2.  In a small saucepan, whisk together apple juice, water, and pectin.  Bring to a hard boil and boil for one minute.

3.  Add honey and lemon juice to berries and stir well.  Add in hot pectin mixture and stir well again to make sure everything is combined.

4.  Ladle into clean jars (glass is fine) and screw on lids.  Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up and then transfer to the freezer to store.

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Published by Kristin

22 thoughts on “Honey Strawberry Freezer Jam”

  1. Jam is a great way to start canning, since you don’t need to pressure can to keep it safe. Of course, freezer jam is great too, I just don’t have the freezer space to keep a lot of jam.

    If you do start to can, though, be careful– it’s addictive!

  3. I got here from Tastespotting, which is where I also found the following site:

    http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/2009/06/37-jars-and-counting.html

    There’s a recipe for Strawberry Balsamic Jam. I ended up deciding to pick up some jars and such to try my hand at canning for the first time ever. I made it yesterday and tried it today and it’s AMAZING. So if you have a huge pot for soups and such, you can totally do “real” canning. Plus, you should give it a try and see how to make it so it doesn’t use SEVEN cups of sugar… lol I like sweet stuff, but that’s a bit much.

  4. I just found some blueberries and raspberries from last year in my freezer. Oops! Do you think I could use blueberries and raspberries with this recipe (in place of the strawberries since I have about 8 strawberries frozen from this year’s crop)?

  6. I am hoping to order an additional flat of blueberries from farm share next week, so I can try this jam recipe then. My neighbor makes the strawberry freezer jam each year.

  7. I am going to try this recipe. After it is frozen and ready to use how do I store? Back in the freezer or just the fridge?

  8. Stacy, store it in the freezer. When you are ready to use a jar, put it in the fridge to thaw and then it will generally keep in the fridge for at least a week or two.

  9. I always store freezer jam in the freezer all the time after it’s opened…it doesn’t usually freeze HARD. Unless this recipe is different.

    What size package of pectin did you use? I’m assuming it’s the 1.75 oz. size.

  10. Just wanted to pop in and say I made this last summer….it lasted us (in conjunction with our apple butter) up until about a month ago. So yummy! Not as “gelled” as normal jam but we don’t care much. Or maybe that’s a freezer jam thing, not a honey-sweetened jam thing.

  13. Seems to be a lot of liquid for a jam. I have no doubt that it will be tasty but I’m pretty worried about it not setting correctly.

  14. Hi Christina…

    The first time I made this it jelled up nicely, the second time it was a little looser (and it’s hard to know with freezer jam, b/c you tend to throw it in the freezer and don’t really see how well it turned out for months!). I think the moisture content of the berries obviously can impact it. So, I tend to agree with you and may cut back on the amount of liquid I add next time. Let me know if you come up with a good amount!

  15. I found this recipe after a web search and was so excited that it had honey instead of sugar. The following comments are probably more for me to remember when I come back to this recipe but may be helpful to others making large batches.
    I made it this morning and had 32 cups of strawberries that needed doing. I used Pomona’s Universal pectin 2 packages. It uses calcium as well and after following the instructions I used 16 tsp of the calcium water.
    I used orange juice instead of apple juice and omitted one T of the lemon juice as i wasn’t sure what the acidity ratio needed to be. I used only 1 cup of the water. I also blended the strawberries with a hand blender.
    The jam looks like it’s going to set and is sitting beautifully in glass jars in the fridge.
    Thanks so very much!

  16. Oh that’s funny – the photo that pops up with my name is my husbands, kinda odd next to that feminine name:)

  17. Praise the Lord, a freezer jam recipe that won’t rot my teeth out of my head with the first bite! I’ve been looking for a no/low sugar recipe for a while and no one seems to have one. Can’t wait to start on this tonight. Thanks!

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  19. Can I use frozen berries for this recipes? Should I thaw them out first or keep them frozen? I can’t wait to try this!

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  22. Over the weekend, our freezer door was left ajar, and 14 bags of strawberries we picked at a local farm thawed. So, last night I found your recipe and made 8 wonderful batches today. I substituted apple cider for the juice and strawberry juice for the water. I am VERY pleased! Thank you for sharing!

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