Strawberry-Banana Jam

my strawberry bounty

I’m in love with this jam. Holymoly.

Here’s an instance where catering to my husband’s picky eating has resulted in absolute fabulousness. (don’t tell him I said that, or he might think he can be picky all the time)

We love yogurt in our household – in particular the stir from the bottom kind that is super-sweet and is a bit rough on the pocketbook. I’d like to make our yogurt (which is much less expensive), but it’s not super-duper sweet and doesn’t taste of strawberry-banana (which is the only kind hubby will eat without complaining).

As I was driving home the other night I was pleased because it wasn’t raining so I could go pick strawberries from the garden. I was thinking of how I would use those strawberries. I then got thinking about the other things that need using up, such as the three ripe bananas on my counter.

Hmm. Strawberries. Bananas. With a future in the yogurt arena.

Yup. No brainer.

After my son ate one of the three bananas, here’s how it went down:

Strawberry-Banana Jam

4 cups sliced/diced fruit

(I used just over 2 cups strawberries and just under 2 cups ripe bananas, aka 2 bananas)

4 to 4 ½ cups sugar

1 cup water

3 Tbsp lemon juice if you plan on making this shelf stable – I didn’t bother because it went in my fridge

sliced and diced

Combine all ingredients in a pot or large saucepan over medium heat, stir well.

in the pan, not frothy

Stirring frequently, bring to a boil that can’t be stirred down. As in, cook it until it gets frothy and when you stir it stays frothy.

in the pan and frothy

Reduce heat to medium-low/low and simmer until it thickens. Judge the thickness by drizzling a little bit on a plate and cooling the plate in the fridge. If that little bit thickens up to your desired consistency, you’re golden.

Skim and discard the foam if desired. I kept the foam and just stirred it in. Pour into canning jars, allow to cool. Refrigerate. Or if you want freezer jam or shelf-stable jam, process accordingly. Makes 4-5 cups.

I got two of these beauties, plus a little extra

I found this jam to be super-sweet, which is awesome because I’m using it for yogurt. My coworker also found it super-sweet, and agreed it’d be awesome in yogurt. Hubby thinks it’s awesome as is and could possibly be sweeter. So… yeah. I’d say it’s a normal sweetness, bordering on the more sweet side. Keep in mind my bananas were ripe – yellow peels with just a few small brown spots. If you use greener bananas your jam will be less sweet. If you use browner bananas your jam will be more sweet.