It’s peach season here in Arizona! The little one and I went to an orchard and picked some peaches last week. We got a little carried away; they just looked and smelled so good! I didn’t want them to go to waste, so after giving some to family and eating quite a few, I decided to make some peach jam.
I made a small batch (jam uses a lot of peaches since it cooks down!), and it’s been a big hit. I have been putting some in my oatmeal most mornings! I’m also hoping to make some pancakes or waffles to eat with it soon before it runs out! Needless to say, I definitely plan on getting some more peaches this season to create some more, and I would like to try this recipe with strawberries as well.
This recipe only uses four ingredients: peaches, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla bean paste! I began by peeling and dicing my peaches.
[Note: To make the peel come off easily, bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water and place it nearby. Boil each peach for 45 seconds, and then immediately place them in the cold water. The peel will loosen and practically fall off! If you cut the peel off, you run the risk of losing some of the yummy peach with the peel.]
After all my peaches were prepared, I placed them in my Le Creuset dutch oven. I then measured the other ingredients and added them to the peaches. I stirred the mixture together and then placed it on the stove to cook.
I brought the mixture up to a boil briefly and then brought it back down to a simmer. The jam simmered for a little over an hour. During this time, the peaches turned a pretty golden orange color and the mixture began to thicken. Then I turned the stove off and moved my dutch oven off of the burner to cool. After a little while, I transferred the jam to baby food jars (we have a lot of these sitting around right now!) and moved them to the fridge to continue to cool and thicken. This jam turned out delicious and is quickly disappearing!
Recipe for Vanilla Peach Jam
Ingredients:
4 c peaches, peeled and diced
1/8 c lemon juice
1 c granulated sugar
½ Tbsp Nielsen Massey’s vanilla bean paste
Directions:
Peel and dice all the peaches. Place the peaches, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla bean paste in a dutch oven or other pot and stir all the ingredients together. Bring it up to a boil, and then down to a simmer. Let it sit for 1-1.5 hours and then take it off the heat to cool. Transfer to jars and then place in the fridge to further cool and thicken.
taste and SPARKLE 