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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 with 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! 

Related: Low-Sugar Strawberry Jam

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

Yield: 6 1/2 Pint Jars

Christmas Jam

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This delicious, festive Christmas jam is the perfect blend of holiday goodies and perfect for gift giving. 

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Ingredients

• 12 Oz Cranberries (fresh or frozen, thaw first if frozen)
• 1 Orange, peeled and sectioned
• 2 t Orange Zest, from the peel
• 16 Oz Fresh or FrozenStrawberries (thaw if you use frozen)
• 1/4 t Ground Cloves
• 1/4 t Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 t Allspice
• 4 C Sugar, pure cane is best
• 1 Package Fruit Pectin
• 1/2 C Water

Instructions

1. Wash jars, lids, and rings. Fill jars 2/3rds full of water and place in water-bath canner. Fill with water. Put canner on stove over medium-high heat to sterilize jars while you make the jam.
2. Place lids in a small saucepan covered with water. Boil over medium-high heat while you make the jam. Set rings to the side, they don't need sterilized.
3. Place cranberries and sectioned orange into a blender. You just want them coarsely chopped. My blender has a food chop option, and I use that.
4. Add in the strawberries and spices. Stir a bit in the blender to make sure they get mixed a little. Blend until everything is chopped fine. You don't want it pureed.
5. Stir fruit mixture and water together in a 5 qt stock pot.
6. Stir in fruit pectin and add your 1/2 teaspoon of butter (this reduces foaming).
7. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, stir constantly.
8. Add sugar to the mixture. Return to full rolling boil. Boil exactly 1 minute.
9. Remove from heat. Using a metal spoon, skim off any foam.
10. Immediately laden hot jam into prepared jars. Leaving 1/4" headspace.
11. Wipe rims and threads. Center lid. Place ring on just finger tight. Place jars back in canner.
12. When all the jars are filled, fill canner with water until jars are covered with 2".
13. Cover canner. Bring to a boil. Process for 10 minutes.
14. Turn off heat. Uncover canner. Allow jars to sit for 5 minutes.
15. Remove jars to a towel-lined counter and leave undisturbed for 24 hours before checking seal.
16. Check for proper seal. If any didn't seal, place in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

96

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 37 Total Fat: 0g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 1mg Carbohydrates: 10g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 9g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 0g

Do you enjoy cranberries or do you think they’re too tart?

Other Christmas Recipes You’ll Love:

• Peanut Butter Buckeyes
• Homemade Peppermint Bark
• Cranberry Salad