Are you tired of tossing away those nutritious apple peels and cores after baking apple pies or preparing your favorite apple recipes? I have the perfect solution to transform this overlooked treasure into a delightful treat – Zero-Waste Apple Peel and Core Jam. Not only does this recipe save you from unnecessary food waste, but it also captures the essence of apples in a sweet, homemade jam that's perfect for spreading on toast, drizzling over pancakes, or using as a flavorful topping for various dishes. Don't discard those peels and cores any longer – simply save them in a ziplock bag in the freezer until you've gathered enough to embark on this sustainable and scrumptious culinary adventure. Let's turn apple scraps into something extraordinary!
Note: This recipe uses the peels and cores from 16 apples and will give you a 16 ounce wide mouth mason jar ( maybe a touch more) of jam.
Ingredients:
Peels and cores from 16 apples ( chop the cores a bit)
Juice of two lemons
Water
1 3/4 Cups of sugar
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Directions:
Add apple scrapes to a large pot.
Add just enough water to cover your apple scraps well. Add enough that the water rises above them, but no more than that.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer until cores and peels have softened, 30-40 minutes. Stir and mash occasionally.
Water will reduce by half, apples scraps will be soft, brown and mushy.
Strain the liquid through a sieve mashing as you do to strain all the apple goodness.
Measure the strained liquid as you return it to the pot. You should have about 3 1/2 cups. If you have that amount, Add the above ingredients to the pot. If you don't, no worries. For every 1 cup of liquid you have add 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning as needed according to the amount of liquid you have.
Bring your ingredients to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a medium-low.
Simmer for another 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally. The liquid will thicken and slightly gel.
Once it has reached this point, remove it from the heat and pour into desired container. Jam will continue to thicken as it cools.
Store in the Refrigerator.
Enjoy!