Peaches are a favorite summer fruit and preserving them for the off-season is a great way to enjoy them year-round.
Every summer we can lots of peach slices in 1 quart jars (1L) for those snowy winter months. I also make vanilla peach jam every summer and it’s delicious. Adding vanilla to peach jam just adds that extra wonderful aroma & taste.
If you’ve never canned before I highly recommend you read up on the basic safety of canning before diving in.
There are things like altitude and sanitizing jars that are important. You can read up on basic canning safety on this site.
Recipe for Canning Vanilla Peach Jam
The vanilla flavor is better if you use real vanilla beans or real vanilla extract. I recommend that over the vanilla ‘flavor’ extract.
I often use something in the middle, single vanilla extract in bourbon. I definitely recommend you taste test (before adding the pectin) for your desired vanilla flavor.
This recipe makes 3x 1 Pint (500 ml) size jars or 6 1/2 pint (250ml) jars of jam. I often double or triple this recipe.
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- 5 cups peeled, pitted & chopped peaches (about 3lbs)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp zest & juice of 1 lemon
- 2-3 tbsp vanilla bean pod scraped (taste test how much you want as there are different vanilla quality grades)
- 1 packet liquid pectin (3-ounce/85ml)
Ingredients
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- Prepare water bath canner and get the jars & lids ready (be sure to know your basic canning safety). Need a water bath canner? We bought this set and it’s perfect for beginners!
- Combine the peaches & sugar in a large non-reactive pot. Cook on medium heat allowing peach juices to release. Slowly bring to a boil and add lemon juice and vanilla.
- Let the sauce cook over med-high heat for 15-20 mins stirring frequently until it looks syrupy. I use a hand blender at this stage to break up the peaches so it’s not chunky (be careful it can splatter & it’s hot)
- Add the pectin and bring to a strong boil for 5 mins or so until it’s thick and shiny. (be sure to read your pectin instructions as they differ in method).
- Remove the pot from the heat & ladle the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids & rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 mins (be sure to know your basic canning safety and adjust the time with altitude).
- How to Blanch Peaches & Prepare Peaches: boil water then gently add peaches into the pot with a slotted spoon. Boil for 2-3 mins and immediately place into a bowl of cold water. Using a knife make a small cut across the skin then put knife aside. Peel off the skin with your hands and discard into compost. If the peaches are still hot run them under cold water to do this. You will need to change the cold water bowl every few batches to keep is cold.
- I make jam on the same day that I can peach slices and use the pulp around the core as the bulk of my jam pulp. It’s easy to squish the pulp off the core and it’s a nice small size for the jam. I also add some whole peaches so it’ s not just the core pulp.
- If you wish to just have a peach sauce omit the pectin entirely. This is a cheaper option and it’s wonderful on crepes, baked into sweet breads or put over pancakes etc.
If you have freestone peaches they will come off the pit easily.
If you have clingstone or semi-free stone peaches then it’s harder to get off the pit. Not a problem if you’re canning jam, only if you’re doing slices.
I often make peach jam by using the pulp around the pit when I’m canning peach slices that aren’t freestone.
This is a great & frugal way to can peach slices you end up with lots of pulp left for jam.
If I’m using your frugal tip, how much (approximately) would I need of the pits/pulp? Also, what do you use to get all the “meat” off the pits? Does it vary based on the peaches you use? Thanks!
Fantastic question!! The free-stone peaches are much easier to make into peach slices and thus have less pulp around the stone to use for jam. I’ve used both kids of peaches for slices and jam and I just use my hands to squeeze off the pulp around the pit. It’s definitely messy so make sure you do it over a bowl 🙂 I then place the pulp into a measuring jug so I know how many cups of pulp I have to make jam with. I often buy 20lbs cases, so I can as many peach slices as I can then use the pulp for jam (it usually does a batch, or you can make a half batch or buy more cases). Most summers we buy 2-3 cases of peaches. I hope that answers the question!
Hi, I have a homebased baked goods business and I would love to make this I never give recipes out is that alright? Thank you so much.
Question. I want to make this recipe however I would like to use Pomona’s pectin instead of liquid pectin since it’s what I have on hand. Do I just use one packet or is it a different amount? Do I need to do anything different?
I’ve only ever used Pomona’s pectin, they do have good instructions with the pamphlet on how to make adjustments to your jam batch 🙂
I made this recipe yesterday. It was my first time with peaches. Made it using my instan pot. I used vanilla paste instead of extract and it turned out fabulous. Thank you for the clear directions.
I loved bothe that syrup an jam
Have you tried using the same recipes using blueberries instead?
What’s the difference between liquid pectin and sure gel powder? Can it be used instead of the liquid pectin?
This recipe looks amazing – I am curious about the vanilla bean measurements. Do you use 2-3 T of scraped out vanilla bean? Approx how many beans is that? I saw one commenter used vanilla bean paste, which is much less expensive and easier to use. I would like to try the paste, but wanted to see what you thought. Thank you!