Last year, on a whim, I decided to try my hand at a really simple jelly recipe that used juice instead of real fruit. It was a hit with the kids and I used it for some of my Christmas gift giving. This year? I decided to make jelly again {sensing a tradition starting here!} and the kids decided they wanted to help. Yesterday we made a double batch of a cran-strawberry jelly that the kids are very proud of. They even plan to give it to their teachers for Christmas.
The whole recipe only takes about an hour to make and it's a very sweet jelly. You can use any flavor of juice that appeals to you. In fact, on Friday I made a blueberry pomegranate jelly that we have already tried and given two thumbs up.
EASY HOMEMADE JELLY
Ingredients:
3 cups grape juice (you can substitute with apple, white grape...)
1 pkg powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
glass jars (I used 8oz canning jars which yielded 5 jars of jelly)
Directions:
Combine grape juice and pectin in a large saucepan. Use a wire whisk to make sure they are mixed well and you don't have any lumps. Bring this to a boil. (I did mine on like a med-high heat...more medium than high)
Once this is boiling, add your sugar and again use your wire whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Let this come to a rolling boil, that you can not stir out, and boil for one full minute. Remove from heat after 1 minute.
There may be a foam on the top of the jelly, which you can choose to remove.
Add the jelly to each jar. Leave about a 1/4" of space from jelly to lid for heat space. Additionally, if needed you can boil the jars to ensure they seal properly for shelf storage. All but one of mine sealed from the heat of the jelly. I believe the last one we poured is the one that didn't quite seal up. If using canning jars, this means you can't make the little pop sound by pushing on the lid. If you don't need them to set for shelf storage, then you don't have to worry about this and can just put them in the fridge. You probably want to let them cool for awhile so you don't accidentally break any jars due to quick temperature changes.
3 cups grape juice (you can substitute with apple, white grape...)
1 pkg powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
glass jars (I used 8oz canning jars which yielded 5 jars of jelly)
Directions:
Combine grape juice and pectin in a large saucepan. Use a wire whisk to make sure they are mixed well and you don't have any lumps. Bring this to a boil. (I did mine on like a med-high heat...more medium than high)
Once this is boiling, add your sugar and again use your wire whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Let this come to a rolling boil, that you can not stir out, and boil for one full minute. Remove from heat after 1 minute.
There may be a foam on the top of the jelly, which you can choose to remove.
Add the jelly to each jar. Leave about a 1/4" of space from jelly to lid for heat space. Additionally, if needed you can boil the jars to ensure they seal properly for shelf storage. All but one of mine sealed from the heat of the jelly. I believe the last one we poured is the one that didn't quite seal up. If using canning jars, this means you can't make the little pop sound by pushing on the lid. If you don't need them to set for shelf storage, then you don't have to worry about this and can just put them in the fridge. You probably want to let them cool for awhile so you don't accidentally break any jars due to quick temperature changes.
Taken from TheFrugalGirl.com