Summary

Prep: 0 mins
Cooking: 15 mins
Ages: Toddlers to Teens
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Makes: 3 small jars

By now you’ve probably heard about the health benefit of the new superfood on the block – the great chia seed.

Chia seeds are loaded with fibre. In fact, they swell to almost twice their size when put in liquid, which makes them perfect for making jam.

Raspberries are high in antioxidants and Vitamin C and so the combination of chia seeds and raspberries in this sugar free jam recipe, packs a powerful punch healthwise.

You can finally let your kids enjoy a jam without worrying about all the sugar, as we’ve used the natural sweetness of maple syrup over refined sugars in this raspberry and chia seed jam. If your raspberries are more bitter in taste (rather than sweet) then you may want to add a little more maple syrup to taste.

We like our jam slightly firmer (rather than softer like a fruit spread) so we’ve added a bit of gelatin at the end to make the jam firmer. This is something that you can leave out if you prefer.

So many ways to enjoy jam!

Don’t just limit yourself to putting this jam on toast! Here’s a few creative ideas for serving your sugar free jam:

• Make your own sugar free fruit yoghurt by swirling it into a pot of natural yoghurt.
• Top your frozen and creamy desserts with raspberry chia seed jam.
• Use it as the filling in our jam roly poly cake, or our jam crumbly bites.
• Use to top your pancakes. If you add boiling water to jam you get an instant sugar free syrup!
• Make raspberry chia seed jam filled crepes.
• Mix it into the batter of your next cake…yum!

And it’s not just limited to sweet dishes. It can be used to add flavour to some savoury dishes as well!

• Add some jam to the pan sauce for certain meat dishes. It adds the sweetness and flavour of the raspberries to the dish.
• Add it to your salad dressing vinagrette.

So with so many dishes you can enjoy it with, we’ll begin!

Ingredients

• 375 grams raspberries (3 cups)
• 9 tablespoons maple syrup (about 120mls) – if your raspberries are slightly bitter you can add more to taste
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons gelatin (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan add the raspberries and maple syrup. Bring to the boil and stir as the berries begin to break down.
2. Stir in the chia seeds. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the vanilla and gelatin.
5. Chill the jam in the fridge for a few hours to thicken. It’s now ready to serve on a slice of warm toast!

Raspberry and chia seed jam – our step by step guide:

Making raspberry chia seed jam is really as simple as simmering the 3 main ingredients – raspberries, chia seeds and maple syrup, over a low heat.

The first step is to pour your raspberries into a large saucepan with the maple syrup and let it all simmer for about 5 minutes.

Be sure to stir occasionally, and to keep the heat low.

Heat until the berries have begun to break apart a bit.

Add in your chia seeds and vanilla and stir everything together.

Chia seeds expand, so you’ll notice that as they mix into your raspberry chia seed jam, it will start to noticeably thicken.

Keep stirring until you raspberry jam is the thickness you like.

The longer you let it simmer, the thicker the jam will be. We cooked ours for about 15 minutes.

Once your jam is the thickness you like, take it off the heat and let it cool down for about 5 minutes.

The next step is entirely optional….add your gelatine.

Gelatine will add a slightly more jelly like texture to your jam, which can be good if you’re using it as a spread, but you don’t have to add it.

Raspberries are high in pectin, which means that they are good at thickening and chia seeds tend to absorb excess liquid, so your jam will still have some thickness.

Pop it in the fridge for a few hours to thicken even more.

Enjoy this sugar free jam recipe!