Microwave Raspberry Jam (with Xylitol)

Natural sweeteners are a widely debated topic with no end-consensus in sight. It doesn’t matter if it is natural or naturally-derived, people just disagree on the subject and science is still trying to figure it out. Sweeteners in general should be limited even if they are natural. If you do choose to use a natural sweetener there are a large variety of good choices to choose from. Personally, which sweetener I use depends on what I am making because they all perform and taste differently. Today’s recipe happens to use Xylitol which performs beautifully in this recipe and tastes absolutely delicious.

If you aren’t familiar with xylitol it is a naturally-derived sugar alcohol. It traditionally comes from birch; however, an eco-conscious alternative comes from corn. This sweetener with its near identical taste to sugar quickly became my favorite. A clean-eating cookbook I bought used xylitol in a few recipes, so I bought some. On a side note, xylitol’s status as a clean-eating ingredient is considered debatable. However, there are enough good things I’ve read about it to convince me that it is fine as a natural and clean-worthy sugar substitute. Xylitol has also been around a very long time, is safe, and has a really low GI. My experience with it so far is good, so xylitol now goes in my coffee everyday instead of white sugar.

Today’s recipe uses xylitol instead of white sugar in this super-easy, mouth-watering, fresh raspberry jam recipe. Microwave jams are easy, delicious, and don’t require canning. My late English aunt made some for me years ago and I asked her for the recipe of course! Since xylitol packages claim you can swap it out for sugar in whatever you are making, I decided to try it in microwave jam. Sure enough, it worked beautifully and tasted so fresh and good! When summer rolls around and more fresh fruit is available I can try other fruit jams with xylitol as well.

On a side note, frozen berries will absolutely work here instead of fresh. In fact, I found frozen raspberries to perform better here as they had a deeper flavor and thickened better.

Microwave Raspberry Jam with Xylitol

Yields 1 scant cup of jam

2 cups of raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup Xylitol (regular sugar will work as well)

Start by combining all ingredients in large, deep, microwavable bowl. Using a large bowl is important because the jam will bubble up a lot when cooking and you don’t want it spilling over. Next, microwave for 5 minutes. Stir. Continuing microwaving for another 5 minutes. Remove from microwave and let cool. The jam will thicken as it cools. Don’t worry if it’s runny. If you cook it till it’s really thick you will have a gelatinous mess when it cools. It should come to jam texture in a few minutes. If after a half hour the jam is still too liquid, then return to the microwave and cook for a couple more minutes..

Store in fridge. Use within one week.

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