When life gives you blueberries you make homemade jam. We went blueberry picking twice and then someone gifted us 3 gallons of fresh blueberries. We ate the first and froze the other 2 gallons and i've been baking and making jam since.
This is a super simple recipe and the kids enjoyed making it with me.
Ingredients
2 heaping cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Supplies Needed
8 oz storage jars (I recycled old jam jars)
Instructions
Add blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan.
Stir frequently, cook over medium high heat until blueberry mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling and stirring for 10 minutes.
Towards the end of the cooking time, use the back of the spoon to gently crush some of the berries.
At the end of the 10 minutes the blueberry liquid should be slightly thickened. You can also use a thermometer to judge done-ness. When the blueberry mixture reaches 220°F, the jam is done.
Transfer the blueberry jam to a storage jar and let come to room temperature.
Once at room temp, seal jars and store in the refrigerator. The jam might take 24 to 48 hours to fully set up. (But it can be eaten immediately.)
For best results use in about 10 days. (If sealed properly and unopened, your jam could last anywhere from 1 to 3 months in the fridge.)
This recipe is for blueberries but i'm sure could be used for other types of berries. Up next for us is blackberries.
It will last in the fridge 10 days and if unopened could last 1-3 months. If you are wanting to can this jam check out the original recipe here. She goes into detail how to can properly.
For our favorite places to pick blueberries and 2 of our favorite blueberry recipes see this blog post.
Hope you enjoy 🫐
