The Best Apricot Jam without Pectin
The best, simple 3 ingredient recipe for homemade apricot jam!
Ingredients
- 4 lb fresh apricots washed well, pits removed and quartered
- 2 cups sugar more or less based on taste
- 2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- Sterilized jars for canning method if using
Instructions
- Add the cleaned, pitted and quartered apricots to a pot over medium heat. Slowly incorporate the sugar in small amounts at a time – I usually add ¼ cup at a time. Stir gently and as the sugar dissolves, add an additional ¼ cup.
- The mixture should begin to bubble. Scoop out the foam that rises to the top and place it in a heat safe bowl. Save this – you can add it to a parchment lined baking sheet on very low heat and make your own fruit leather – also known as Qamar al-deen.
- Continue stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Taste and see if the sweetness is to your liking. If you feel it needs more sugar, add ¼ cup at a time, let it dissolve and give it another taste. Lastly, add the fresh squeeze of lemon juice and stir to combine. After about 30-40 minutes, it should be the consistency of a typical jam. Remove from heat.
- If you want to leave it as a refrigerator jam, place it in a heat proof container, let it cool with the lid off. Once it’s at room temp, place it in the fridge and it should last 2-3 months.
- To can the jam, add the hot jam to the sterilized jars leaving ¼ inch of headspace at the top, remove any air bubbles and wipe the rims of the jar clean. Cover them and place in boiling water to process for at least 10 minutes making sure the boiling water is covering the jars by a couple inches. Use tongs to carefully remove the jars from the water, once they’re cool to the touch, you can place them in a room temperature place where they’ll stay shelf stable. Feel the button on top the lid of the jar – it should be down which indicates that it was canned properly.
- Enjoy over ice cream, on a pbj, in jam bars like my mabroosheh, on a burger, on a grilled chicken sandwich and more!