This Christmas Jam is a delicious, sweet-tart blend of cranberries, strawberries, oranges, and seasonal spices that are sure to please your palate. Perfect for canning up and giving away as a thoughtful, homemade gift this season! 

I love the flavors associated with the Christmas season. From sweet, delicious homemade candies and chocolates to the sweet-tart flavor of cranberries and spices. There’s nothing quite like it. 

A few years ago, we purchased some Christmas Jam from a local farmer’s market. We brought it home not quite knowing what to expect and were blown away by how delicious it was. I was never able to locate the merchant again to buy more, but I did start to experiment and perfect my own recipe. 

And, after several trials and errors, I think I’ve finally found the one. The best, most simple blend of Christmas flavors anyone could ask for. 

This jam is super easy. And that’s saying a lot coming from someone who isn’t all that great at making jam (I just haven’t had enough practice, yet). It’s also incredibly delicious and even better than that jam I purchased from the farmer’s market years ago. 

Since this jam cans up so well, it will keep for a long while and is a fantastic homemade Christmas gift idea. The longer it sits, the better it tastes, so there’s no harm in making it up in October and giving it away in December.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of practical, thoughtful gifts for Christmas. Sure, you can buy anyone something, but nothing quite says “I was really thinking of you and I love you” like a homemade gift. 

Especially when that gift is a jar of this delicious Christmas jam. 

But, be forewarned. It’s so good, you’re going to want to keep it all to yourself!! 

You can use fresh or frozen fruit in this recipe, so don’t feel like you’ve got to buy strawberries out of season to eat this stuff. You don’t. If you do choose to use frozen fruit, you’ll need to make sure you let it thaw completely before you start making it. The added water content may make it take just a tad longer to cook down, even after you’ve thawed the fruit, but it will taste essentially the same. 

I know I’ve been known to forget and leave cranberries sitting in the freezer for longer than I intended. This recipe is the perfect use for those! 

Tips for Making The Perfect Christmas Jam

• You can omit the pectin in this recipe. I use the pectin when I make mine, but it isn’t completely necessary. Cranberries and orange peels are naturally high in pectin. If you omit it, it will simply take a tad longer to reach gel stage. 
• You can substitute honey for the sugar in this recipe. If you do, you’ll want to use a little less and either omit the pectin or use low sugar pectin in its place. It will change the flavor slightly, but it’s not super noticeable, in my opinion. 
• If your Christmas Jam hasn’t gelled, it simply needs to cook longer.
• A simple way to check for gelling is to place a clean, dry, cool spoon into your syrup. Pull it out and when the jam starts dripping off in sheets (two drops at a time forming a sort of “sheet”) it is gelled and ready for canning.
• If you overcook it (i.e. it’s too thick), you can bring some port or apple juice to a boil and slowly add it to the jam until it’s the consistency you want. 
• If you undercook the jam (it’s runny after you open up a jar), you can fix it! Simply combine the canned jam (a jar or two at a time) with 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of juice or port wine, 1/2 Tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of powdered pectin per half pint of jam and bringing it to a hard boil and allowing it to hard boil for 1 minute. Then, remove it from the heat, test for the gel stage and jar it up and process it like you did before.
• You can safely store it for up to 1 year on the shelf as long as it is properly sealed. 

Tools I Used to Make Christmas Jam

• Jelly Jars
• Granite Ware Canner
• Canning Essentials Set
• 5 Quart Stainless Pot

  

Other Christmas Recipes You’ll Love:

• Peanut Butter Buckeyes
• Homemade Peppermint Bark
• Cranberry Salad