This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Click HERE to read my policies & disclaimers if you're interested. I will only link products I use and personally recommend. Thank you for your support, friends!

This maple blackberry no pectin jam is a small batch recipe with very simple ingredients that relies on heating the jam to setting point and uses that natural pectin the berries have.  Sweeten with whatever sugar source you prefer and cook down to a delicious jam.  This recipe takes a bit of time to make, so be patient and set aside a couple hours for making this.  Commercial pectin powders came from impatience and the reluctance to stand over a jam pot for hours stirring.  It’s a trade off but I’m willing to do it!  Jam making requires no special equipment past normal canning equipment.  I use a wooden spoon and a stock pot I use for everything else.  They make fancy things to help with jam and if kitchen gadgets are your thing, do ittttt, especially if you make a ton of your own jam every year.  Cooking time varies based on type of sugar, how much sugar, and how hot your stove top gets while you’re cooking.  It can take 30 minutes and it can take 2 hours.  

If you’ve followed me on social media for any amount of time, I’m sure you know by now that jam making and I are mortal enemies.  Homemade jam was the BANE of my existence.  Adding powdered pectin resulted in runny jam that I had to use a syrups.  I tried Pomona’s Pectin without success.  I even tried chia seeds and it was good but the jam discolored to an unappetizing brown very quickly.  I very much cringed when I saw folks telling new canners to start with jam.  Had I done that, I’d have quit immediately.  Unscribe.  Go away.  Done.  I quit.  Departure announced.

THEN, I was reading in an old canning book and there was no mention of commercially powdered pectin being added to these recipes.  They also gave an adjustable sugar amount that wasn’t equal parts sugar and fruit.  As I get older, I cannot stand overly sweet things.  I want my jam to actually taste like the fruit I’m preserving, not a boat load amount of sugar.  Plus, too much sugar doesn’t make me feel all that good and it’s not something I like to consume a ton of.  This old book said to “add sugar to taste and boil to jam stage.”  OK.  What’s jam stage.  So I got to researching and saw that the setting point of jams, or gelling point, is about 220 degrees F (my elevation is under 1000ft).  At this temperature, it means enough of the water and juice has evaporated to allow the pectin present in the fruit to gel and set up.  I tried it with strawberries my first time which aren’t that naturally high in pectin and IT WORKED!!!!!!!!  I was amazed and feeling a bit dumb for not knowing this earlier on!  Another great tip is to add in a few unripe berries.  These are a higher source of pectin, don’t affect the overall taste, and also help the jam to thicken more quickly.

So now, I can make homemade jam with fresh fruit from my garden (or my parent’s because mooch life LOL) with less sugar or no sugar or even natural sugar sources and no added pectin.  In case you’re like the obnoxious know-it-all’s on my Instagram and have to let me know that all fruit has pectin so I can’t call this a no pectin recipe… I think you know what I mean.  No pectin means… I’m not adding pectin.  Anyone that’s got an anaphylactic allergy to pectin would know that fruit has pectin and to avoid it due to the ingredients of this recipe… duh?  So, if you need a more annoying title to this post, I can’t help you.  I refuse.  Common sense is free and readily available.

Sweetener To Use For Jam Making

Whatever you want and fits into your dietary preferences and budget.  My favorite to use depending on the fruit are:

• coconut sugar
• raw unrefined sugar (turbinado)
• honey
• maple syrup

Let’s make some homemade blackberry jam!

Equipment You May Want:

• Stock pot
• Potato masher
• Half pint jelly jars
• Canning lids & screw bands
• Jar Funnel
• Jar Lifter
• Steam Canner

Ingredients:

• 8 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Step 1:  Macerate the Fruit

Rinse about 8 cups of fresh berries with cold water.  Allow all water to drain off of them.

Add to a stock pot with 1 cup maple syrup (or sweetener of choice, if using).  I recommend a little sugar source just to get the juices flowing.  Stir all together and allow to sit about 30 minutes to allow the blackberries to release their juices.

Step 2:  Cook

Over medium heat, stir frequently and bring mixture to a boil.

When berries are softened, mash with a potato masher to remove big chunks.  If you would prefer a seedless jam, once the berries are good and softened, run the jam through a fine mesh strainer, mashing pulp through with a spatula and then continuing the cooking process.  We don’t mind the seeds so I don’t worry about this step.

Once boiling, add a candy thermometer to the pot and boil the fruit mixture to gel stage or jam stage which is about 220 degrees F.  I start testing mine at 210F on a frozen plate just to see where we’re at because mine gets stuck at 216F for a while and is normally good enough!  

Once jam is to temperature, add lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir and cook 1 minute longer.

Step 3:  Canning

Once jam is set, ladle hot jam into prepared canning jars to 1/4 inch headspace.

Wipe jar rims and add a lid, securing with a screw band according to manufacturer’s instruction.

Place in a hot water bath canner or steam can half pint jars or smaller for 10 minutes.

Once processing time is up, remove jars and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.  

Step 4:  Storage

Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.  Room temperature is fine as long as they’re not exposed to extreme temperatures.  The canning process renders jam shelf stable.

Shelf life is til you eat it.  Since this jam was a low-sugar blackberry jam recipe, the sugar doesn’t act as a preservative like the more conventional jams with lots of sugar, so some jams can discolor at the top after a while.  I try and rotate jams out every 2 years or so, but they keep much longer.

Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed or placed in the fridge where they will keep for a few months minimum.

And there you have it.  You’ve made your own fruit jam without commercial pectin or tons of refined sugar.  

Notes:

If you would prefer to make a full sugar jam, you can use this recipe still and add up to equal parts sugar to fruit BY WEIGHT.  1 cup of blackberries is not the same as 1 cup of sugar, so weight it out and add it that way.

Easy No Pectin Maple Blackberry Jam Canning Recipe

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Canning Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 half pint jelly jars

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

• stock pot
• Potato masher
• half pint jelly jars
• Canning lids & screw bands
• jar funnel
• jar lifter
• steam canner

Ingredients

• 8 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Rinse about 8 cups of fresh berries with cold water.  Allow all water to drain off of them.
• Add to a stock pot with 1 cup maple syrup (or sweetener of choice, if using).  I recommend a little sugar source just to get the juices flowing.  Stir all together and allow to sit about 30 minutes to allow the blackberries to release their juices.
• Over medium heat, stir frequently and bring mixture to a boil.
• When berries are softened, mash with a potato masher to remove big chunks.
• Once boiling, add a candy thermometer to the pot and boil the fruit mixture to gel stage or jam stage which is about 220 degrees F.  I start testing mine at 210F on a frozen plate just to see where we're at because mine gets stuck at 216F for a while and is normally good enough!  
• Once jam is to temperature, add lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir and cook 1 minute longer.
• Once jam is set, ladle hot jam into prepared canning jars to 1/4 inch headspace.
• Wipe jar rims and add a lid, securing with a screw band according to manufacturer's instruction.
• Place in a hot water bath canner or steam can half pint jars or smaller for 10 minutes, adjusting time for elevation if needed.
• Once processing time is up, remove jars and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.  
• Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.  Room temperature is fine as long as they're not exposed to extreme temperatures. 
• Shelf life is til you eat it.  Since this jam was a low-sugar blackberry jam recipe, the sugar doesn't act as a preservative like the more conventional jams with lots of sugar, so some jams can discolor at the top after a while.  I try and rotate jams out every 2 years or so, but they keep much longer.
• Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed or placed in the fridge where they will keep for a few months minimum.

Notes

If you would prefer to make a full sugar jam, you can use this recipe still and add up to equal parts sugar to fruit BY WEIGHT.  1 cup of blackberries is not the same as 1 cup of sugar, so weight it out and add it that way.

 If you would prefer a seedless jam, once the berries are good and softened, run the jam through a fine mesh strainer, mashing pulp through with a spatula and then continuing the cooking process.  We don’t mind the seeds so I don’t worry about this step.

 

Pin this recipe for blackberry season!