- 2 tbsp coconut water
- ¼ cup pitted dates, pits removed and chopped
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cups fresh strawberries
- Maple syrup to taste (optional)
- Add water and dates to a vitamix or blender and blend for 60 seconds.
- Add chia seeds and strawberries and blend until smooth.
- Add maple syrup, a little at a time and adjust to your sweet liking. Do not add too much because you want a thick consistency.
- Pour jam in a jar and place into fridge for 30 minutes before using.
- Store in fridge for up to 5 days.
While we were in Florida, Milia discovered jam. We were eating at our fav breakfast spot when Milia grabbed the little package of strawberry jam and made her way inside.
There was no stopping her at that point and I was actually curious what she thought. Much to Vince’s and I’s surprise (that’s sarcasm), Milia was in her delight. She wanted to finish the rest of the packages on the table.
Have you ever looked at the nutritional information on a jar of jelly or jam? There is A LOT of sugar in them! I know that jam is a popular breakfast item and why wouldn’t it be? I just LOVE JAM…it makes me think of the England tea rooms and freshly baked biscuits.
I want to be able to give to my children the things they see other children have without sabotaging their health. I don’t want them to feel like they are missing out because mommy doesn’t want them to eat tasty things. Healthy foods can be tasty!
Jam does not have to be loaded with sugar. First we can use other ingredients such as raw honey or pure maple syrup to replace the bad sugars. Secondly, we do not need to make everything so sweet. Some things taste good with a slight sweetness.
Find out what satisfies your taste buds and train yourself to love the natural flavors of the food with little-to-no sweetener.
Fruit is pretty sweet on it’s own…that’s why I love it so!
This jar lasted me 6 days in the fridge. I mention in the recipe that it lasts up to 5 days, but as you may already know, you just have to look at the consistency and the smell to decipher whether it is still good or not. Organic items tend to rot quicker because they are not loaded with pesticides and preservatives.
Be aware that if you are cooking or baking with organic foods, which is what I recommend, you will have less time to eat what you prepared.
Make this recipe in smaller batches if you are not going to use it quickly. I used the leftovers on day 6 to make pastries with jam filling.
What a great way of making sure I used it up before it went bad. I absolutely HATE wasting food. Besides, a good dessert is always nice to have around the kitchen (usually on weekends in the Del Monte home).
Thank You for reading! I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂 Let me know how your batch worked out and please leave any tips that you may have below!
For more AMAZINGLY tasty and healthy recipes, check out my new cookbook:
Flavilicious Cooking 150 Recipes
Thank you for this healthy recipe! I’ve been wanting to learn how to make jam for awhile but was appalled and shocked when I found out how much sugar was needed for the recipes. I’ll be happy to feed this jam to my children!
There is a lot of differing opinions about using dates as an alternative to sweeteners, but we can’t kid ourselves that dates are a better option. (I love them, by the way!!)
Sugar is 100% sugar, but dried fruit, such as dates, are 81% sugar, and it is in the form of glucose and fructose, which cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. So other than gaining some fiber, I don’t feel dates are a great substitute for sugar. Why not opt to just make a fruit spread WITHOUT sweetener? Truly ripe strawberries are sweet enough on their own.
I am not afraid of fructose and I use dates the most out of all dried fruit, not very often, but I use them and love them and so does Milia.
For sure just strawberries works too. Depends on how sweet you want your food and what you are used to. To those people who are trying to change their diet and are used to store bought jams, this recipe is an amazing transition.
It is so crazy that you posted this today because I was just telling my husband a few days ago that I need to find a healthier alternative to jam! He went to the store and bought me a “healthy” sugar-free jam and it has all of these artificial ingredients in it. I didn’t even open it and plan on returning it. I do not want to put that in my body!
Thank you so much!! I’ve been sick the past few days but as soon as I’m better I plan on making this. 🙂
Have you tried Bob’s Red Mill products for you baking needs? They are healthy options to store bought crap.
Yes, I use that line often but I like to make things from scratch so I stick to a lot of their flours, like almond flour when I don’t want to grind up almonds myself.
Can this be frozen in small batches and defrosted as needed? I cant wait to try it. My mother in law just gave us homemade jam but it just tastes like flavored sugar..
Yes it can 🙂
wooww! finally a healthy recipe of jam 😀 cant wait to try it, looks already from the pic awesome! I would like to know like Jaylene, Can this be frozen in small batches and defrosted as needed?
I noticed u never write the amounts of protein/carbs/fats per serving of recipe 🙁 cant you do so ?
I could but truthfully I am trying to show that counting calories is not the way I do things anymore. In my new cookbook, I explain how counting calories really is not a viable way of eating.
It really is impossible to know what your body is going to do with the food, given your metabolism and rate at which you digest, your output and all that, it is so individualized and not accurate.
If you want to figure out the macronutrient breakdown of foods, all you have to do is go to caloireking(dot)com and put all the info int here and that will give you what you want to know.
Looks really delicious