Disclosure: Fruit provided by The Fruit Club & contains affiliate links. All opinions are mine.
When I tell people I regularly make homemade jam for my kid’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they think I must spend all day in the kitchen. What they don’t know is that freezer jam is ready in minutes with no cooking time and is as simple as chopping fruit and mixing up ingredients.
The Fruit Club provided me with 20 pounds of delicious, ripe cherries that are perfect for homemade jam. That’s alot of cherries, so we typically eat some, freeze some and make a big batch of jam. You will be amazed at how easy freezer jam is to make!
Gather Ingredients:
- Cherries – I recommend purchasing your cherries in bulk from The Fruit Club if they deliver to your area. The quality is amazing and the fruit always taste great.
- Ball RealFruit Instant Pectin – Make sure to get the instant fruit pectin, not classic pectin for this recipe. The 4.7 oz jar of instant pectin will make 15 half pint jars of jam.
- Sugar – Pick up a bag of plain, granulated sugar.
Gather Supplies:
- Cherry Pitter – You can pit cherries by hand, but it will take forever. I have this simple 4-slot cherry pitter that works great, but you can get a much fancier one if you want.
- Freezer Jars – I buy the Ball 16 oz freezer jars that are reusable.
- Blender or Food Processor – Easily chop the fruit with your blender or food processor.
- Mixing Bowl, measuring cups, spoon & ladle
Homemade Cherry Freezer Jam
Adapted from Fresh Preserving
Homemade Cherry Freezer Jam
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups Diced Cherries
- 2 Tbsp Instant Fruit Pectin
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
Instructions
- Wash, stem and pit the cherries.
- Finely chop cherries using blender or food processor.
- Mix sugar and pectin in bowl.
- Add finely diced cherries and stir for 3 minutes.
- Spoon or ladle into freezer jars (leave 1/2 inch space on top of jar for expansion) and let stand 30 minutes before eating.
Notes
Makes 1- 16 oz jar.
Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or freezer for up to 1 year.
PERFECT timing!!! Now I have something else to make with my 10 lbs of cherries I pick up tomorrow from the Fruit Club.
Can this method be used with fruit, in general?
Thanks for sharing!,,
PERFECT timing!!! Now I have something else to make with my 10 lbs of cherries I pick up tomorrow from the Fruit Club.
Can this method be used with fruit, in general?
Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I’ve used this recipe for strawberry jam as well.
Has this ever been done with a sweetener other than sugar, like honey or Stevia?
There is a low or no sugar pectin, but it’s for canning, not freezer jam.
I have used low-sugar pectin in freezer jams. It works just fine.
Can’t wait to try this! Thanks, Nicole.
I just put up 5 pints. Thanks, Nicole!
I was also lucky enough to win 5lbs of cherries from The Fruit Club.
We hand picked 22 lbs of cherries and used this recipe for homemade jam. Delicious and so easy!
Wow! That’s a lot of cherries! Glad you enjoyed the jam recipe.
Can this recipe be used to do water bath canning?
I’ve only used this recipe for freezer jam. 🙂 Sorry, I can’t give you a definitive answer.
Would it be possible to use the liquid fruit pectin for this recipe? I’m not sure I can find this particular pectin in my area. Thanks.
wnhen do you use the freezer pectin? your recipes on jars are terrible Im back to sure jel . same recipe on freezer pectin and classic pectin. really? . Thank God your phone rep was very helpful
Do you drain the juice after chopping them?