Strawberry vanilla jam from the pantry shelf

Homemade jam used to mean a trip to the store when berries were in season, then a whole afternoon at the stove. This version starts on the pantry shelf, and it takes about 50 minutes plus cooling. The strawberries come out of a can, the butter for the muffins does too, and the result is a bright, thick jam you can make in January as easily as June.

It's a small thing. But a good jar of jam in the fridge makes toast worth getting up for, and this one keeps you from buying flat grocery-store jam ever again.

Why the pantry version works here

Two shelf-stable ingredients carry this recipe.

• Freeze dried strawberry slices rehydrate in five minutes and give you strong strawberry flavor and color any month of the year. No washing, no hulling, no half a carton going soft before you get to it.
• Powdered vitamin butter, once you mix it, spreads on the muffin and gives the jam something rich to sit against.

---

Strawberry vanilla jam and English muffins

This makes about 8 servings. Total time is around 50 minutes, plus time for the jam to cool.

Ingredients

• 2 cups freeze dried strawberry slices
• ½ to 1 cup granulated sugar (see the note below)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 4 English muffins, halved
• Optional: 1 Tbsp powdered vitamin butter per muffin half

On sweetness: use ½ cup of sugar for a tarter, more fruit-forward jam. Use ¾ to 1 cup for a thicker, sweeter jam closer to what you'd buy in a jar. Both work, so pick the one your family likes.

Instructions

1. Soak the freeze dried strawberry slices in warm water for 5 minutes, then drain them well.
2. In a saucepan, combine the drained strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes. This pulls the juice out of the fruit before any heat goes on.
3. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, then drop it to a simmer. Mash the berries with your spoon and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't catch. It's ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
4. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla.
5. Spoon the jam into a clean jar. Let it cool a little before you seal it and put it in the fridge. It keeps up to three months.
6. Toast the English muffin halves until golden. Spread a thin layer of the rehydrated butter on each if you like, then top with the warm jam.

---

What this really buys you

A store jar of jam tastes fine and costs a few dollars. This one tastes better and it comes off a shelf that's stocked whether or not you made it to the store this week. That's the trade: a little time at the stove for a jam you control, made from fruit that was ready the moment you were. Keep a can of the strawberries on hand and you're one warm-water soak away from doing it again.