Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. My love for recipes with cranberries is so great this time of year. One of my favorites is what we do at work. We top cupcakes with the sugared berries. It's just so pretty with the contrast of the deep berry color and the whiteness of the sugar. Definitely brings on that joyous feeling of winter.
During the summer, I made a few batches of pan jams using stone fruit. I thought it would be great to make a batch using cranberries. I love pan jams because they are so easy to make. Since there is no canning process required, they need to be kept refrigerated. They usually keep for about a week or two in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer.
Cranberry Orange Pan Jam
Ingredients:
1 12oz bag of cranberries
1 orange - zest and juice
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
2 stevia packets
(If you don't use stevia, I would suggest adding more coconut sugar since the berries are so tart.)
1oz Grand Marnier (Optional)
To Make:
Rinse cranberries and place in large bowl.
Heat 3 cups water in a pot just until it starts to boil.
Pour water over cranberries and let sit for 10 minutes.
During this time, zest the orange and set both zest and orange aside.
You will need the juice from the orange in the next step.
Drain cranberries and place back in the pot along with zest,
juice from the whole orange, honey, coconut sugar, and stevia.
Turn heat to medium-high and stir gently to combine all ingredients.
Continue to stir every few minutes.
After about 5 minutes cranberries will begin to burst.
Use a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to mash berries down.
Turn heat slightly lower after 5 more minutes and add 1oz Grand Marnier.
Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until jam looks thick.
Store jam in glass jars in the fridge or freezer.
This jam makes a great topping for pancakes as well as oatmeal and ice cream.
