It’s strawberry season! Which means jam, waffles with strawberries & whipped cream, crepes, hot fudge sundaes, smoothies… Love these berries! Carly on the other hand is still a little skeptical. She keeps making a weird face like she’s not quite sure about it but eats it anyway, very slowly. She loves food and has always been a pretty good eater. She even ate and loved the salmon I made last night!
Berries are beautiful! Aren’t they!? And I love it when the stem is still connected. Makes it look kinda cute huh?! 
If you haven’t ever made homemade jam… you MUST! Seriously, it’s like discovering a whole new world. And once you try homemade you’ll never go back. I guess you can call me a “jam snob” because if it’s not homemade then I’ll definitely pass!
Plus this recipe is super easy because you aren’t required to do real canning where you have to worry about properly sealing jars and worry about the risk of killing the fam (botulism). You just cut the berries, smoosh em, add pectin, heat to dissolve the sugar, store it in jars or Tupperware containers, and freeze (all except the one jar that you will find yourself devouring quite quickly).
Now with all that jam you can smear it on toast, rolls, pancakes, scones, make peanut butter & jam sandwiches, and it even tastes awesome between layers of a cake or swirled into batter like in my Raspberry Coffee Cake. Anyone have any other ideas for how to get more jam into my belly (other than by the spoonful)?
Strawberry Freezer Jam
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups strawberries mashed
- 1 box Sure Jell fruit pectin
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup Karo syrup
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
Instructions
- Mash berries with a potato masher (it will still have some texture so use a blender if you want it completely smooth) and place 3 1/4 cups in a large pot.
- Sprinkle some of the pectin over the mashed berries, stir, sprinkle again... repeat until all of the pectin is mixed in.
- Set the timer for 30 minutes and allow the the berries and pectin to sit. Give it a stir about every 10 minutes.
- Mix in the lemon juice and Karo syrup and then the sugar 1 cup at a time.
- Cook the jam over medium heat (shouldn't get hotter than baby's milk) until the sugar is completely dissolved (this takes about 5 minutes).
- Pour jam into clean jars or small Tupperware containers. Place in the refrigerator or freezer.*
Notes
Recipe Source: RaeJean Eisenhauer
Paige
May 7, 2014 at 11:52 amThere is nothing better than homemade jam! I never had it until I married Derek and had his moms, and my goodness, there really is no going back! we make it every year now!
Paige
http:/thehappyflammily.com
Melanie
May 7, 2014 at 11:25 pmI make it every year too… and multiple kinds. My favorite is raspberry-peach but those fruits peak a little later in the summer.
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
May 7, 2014 at 12:24 pmLooks delicious! I’ve never tried canning for the reasons you mentioned…this I could do!
Melanie
May 7, 2014 at 11:20 pmExactly! Super easy! Making room for it in the freezer is the only down side.
cathy williams
June 12, 2015 at 5:34 pmLooks yummy . How many lbs of strawberries equal the 3 1/4 cup mash that we use.
Melanie
June 18, 2015 at 3:10 pmCathy, I am just guessing because I haven’t weighed the strawberries when making this, but I usually buy the big case at Costco and use about half so that would be 2 pounds of strawberries.
Caroline Hawley
June 23, 2015 at 4:24 amHi, can someone please tell me what Karo syrup is. Please email me at caroline.hawley@ymail.com
Melanie
June 29, 2015 at 9:59 pmCaroline- Karo Syrup is corn syrup. You can usually find it next to maple syrup but if not check in the baking aisle.
Sally S
July 2, 2016 at 5:00 amIs there a way to cut down on the amount of sugar. I have someone who is diabetic in my family and grandchildren who are super sensitive to sugar. Thanks. Sounds delicious and easy!
Melissa
July 26, 2016 at 12:46 pmHey
Do you have to use corn syrup?
Melanie
July 27, 2016 at 4:06 pmYes.
Betty
February 24, 2017 at 8:29 amNo just use the recipe from sure jell
Baking gal
June 20, 2017 at 7:43 pmYou don’t need to add sugar but it definitely makes a difference. Your jam will be quite bland without it. But the very basics to jam are fruit, lemon juice, and pectin. You could make a simple syrup in place of the corn syrup I bet, just boil equal parts sugar and water and then cool.