Have you ever made homemade apple jam with dates?
I made apple jam with dates today – and it’s actually one of my favourite homemade jams🩷🍎
Making my own jam started as a way to save money, but also because I wanted to choose the ingredients myself – simple, clean ingredients that truly nourish the body.
I had no plans to make apple jam today. But when I went to the store to pick up a few small things, I found apples on sale.
They were about $1.40 / €1.30 per kilo, and I also had a discount coupon that gave me about $0.60 / €0.55 off per kilo.
Paying around $0.80 / €0.75 per kilo for apples felt like a real bargain, and for me, that matters. So I ended up buying almost 5 kilos. It was heavy to carry home – but absolutely worth it 🙂
Well, when I got home, I was only going to cut up cucumber, kiwi, orange, blueberries, and prunes for a small salad. But once I was already chopping fruit and vegetables, I figured I might as well cut up the apples and dates too – and make apple jam with dates.
A little story behind my apple and date jam 🍎
Apple jam with dates – or apple and date jam, as I also call it – actually came about by coincidence. At the time, I had very little money and couldn’t afford much fruit or berries, so I ended up buying a bag of the cheapest apples they had in the store.
The apples I bought were completely tasteless – they didn’t really taste like anything. But since I don’t like throwing food away, I decided to try making apple jam.
I cut the apples into pieces, put them in a pot, and set them over medium heat. As the apples slowly simmered, I decided to add dates for sweetness, and later vanilla sugar and butter for flavour.
The jam turned out really good 🥰
And I’ve made it many times since.
I’ve made apple and date jam with both cheap apples (like the first time), as well as regular and more expensive ones. I’ve used red, green, and yellow apples – sometimes mixing different kinds together – and it turns out good no matter what.
I also experimented with different spices.
Today I added cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves.
I call it “Christmas spices,” and this mix came about when I was making jam for Christmas. I thought about gingerbread spices and the smell of freshly baked gingerbread cookies, and wanted to recreate that flavour in the jam 🙂
🍎 Apple and Date Jam – Ingredients
2 kg apples
100 g dried dates
10 g vanilla sugar
30 g butter
Instructions
Cut the apples and dates into pieces, then place the apples in a pot and add the dates, vanilla sugar, and butter.
Cover with a lid and let it cook over medium heat for about 1½–2 hours. As it cooks, stir occasionally, and add the spices halfway through the cooking time if you’re using them.
Once the jam is done, let it cool before transferring it to jars, and store it in the refrigerator.
Tips
I like to use apples with the skin on, but both peeled and unpeeled apples work well, so just use what you prefer. You can also adjust the cooking time depending on the consistency you want – I usually let it simmer for about 1.5 to 2 hours.
Sometimes I make the jam without spices, and sometimes I just add a little cinnamon. Today, I added about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of cardamom, 1 teaspoon of ginger, and 1 teaspoon of cloves, but feel free to adjust the spices to your own taste.
I like to have my apple and date jam on my homemade protein bread (protein bread recipe 📝 ), or with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. Let me know if you find a favourite way to enjoy it 🩷
Today, after making the salad, cutting up the apples, and starting on the dates for the jam, I began thinking about what to do with the rest of the dates I had left.
So I thought I might as well make something with them too – and ended up making raw Snickers balls.
While the apples, dates, vanilla sugar, butter, and spices were slowly cooking into apple and date jam, I made raw Snickers balls using dates, peanuts, peanut butter, honey, vanilla sugar, and cocoa.
They turned out really soft and delicious, and I’ll share the recipe in the next few days 📝
But first, I need to rest and recharge a little 🩷