Following in our series of apple recipes, here is an amazing recipe for apple pie jam. What makes an apple pie jam different from apple jelly? First of all, the chunks! But in addition, the flavor of this jam is more like a pie with luscious cinnamon and nutmeg. It is truly one of the best and most comforting fall jams I make.
If you have been following along on my blog or on my instagram account, you know that we lost a huge branch off of our Honeycrisp apple tree. Ever since then I have been making all things apple so that this wonderful crop doesn’t go to waste!
This apple pie jam has both wonderful flavors and an amazing texture to it. We use it on toast, in PBJ’s, and even on top of ice cream.
It is a wonderful recipe because it uses no pectin, no butter, and is very low in sugar. And, you can use any type of apples. You of course can adjust the sugar depending upon how sweet your apples are.
First, you’ll need to peel and core your apples. I always use an ice water bath to put the apples in while I am peeling. The cold water keeps the apples nice and crisp. Also, if you add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the water, you will keep the apples from browning. This is especially important for this recipe, since brown jam is not so pretty.
You’ll want to start your canner before you start cooking the jam, because the jam takes almost no time to cook.
Chop the peeled and cored apples into little chunks. Apples have a lot of pectin in them, so additional pectin is not needed.
Here you can see the jam starting to thicken up.
If you are new to canning, check out the USDA Canning page for more complete guidelines.
Ingredients
- 4 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into small chunks. Measure after you’ve cored and chopped.
- Water to fill
- 2T lemon juice (for the cold water bath)
- 1t cinnamon
- 1/2 t ginger
- 1/2 t nutmeg
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions for Apple Pie Jam
- Bring a water bath canner to a boil. Sterilize your jars, lids and bands.
- Measure four cups of cored, peeled and chopped apples in a measuring cup. Add water and the 2 T lemon juice to the measuring cup to fill the space in between the apples, to just below the top of the apples.
- Put the apples, water and spices into a pot or large saucepan. A saucepan is great because it allows you to more evenly heat the entire batch. You can also quickly see when the jam is ready with the spoon test.
- Bring to a rolling boil.
- Slowly add the sugar and bring back to a boil. Keep on the heat, stirring constantly, until desired thickness. Since we are not using pectin, this must stay on the heat for a few minutes. If you run a spoon through the jam and it does not immediately backfill, your jam should be ready.
- Remove from heat and ladle into hot, sterilized jars to a quarter inch headspace. Wipe the rims. Let the jars set for about 3 minutes before adding to the hot-water-canner so that the apple chunks don’t float. Close the lids and bands to finger-tight.
- Process in the canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
This recipe makes approximately 4 half pint jars of jam
At what point do you add the 2T lemon juice, during cooking or after?
Hi Rae – The lemon juice is to make sure your apples don’t turn brown. Add the lemon juice to the water in your measuring cup just before cooking. Thanks for pointing this out – I’ve updated the recipe. Hope this helps & let me know how your jam turns out! 🙂
Hi, can you update with how many jars and what size jars this recipe will make for canning?
Usually, I get about 4 half pint jars.