Blackberry Jelly Recipe with Honey (+3 preserving methods)

Learn how to make blackberry jelly from fresh or frozen blackberries. This recipe is lightly sweetened with honey for extra flavor. Also included are 3 preserving methods, so you can put jelly up for later.

Blackberries are often passed by because of their seediness. Each drupelet on the berry contains a large, flat seed that isn't easy to chew, and gives homemade jam and baked goods (what some think is) an undesirable texture.

I was raised on blackberries, and don't mind the seeds...much. That said, I recently decided to make some seed-free preserves for my kitchen!

After pulling out my canning pot, I preserved some blackberry juice for smoothies, and also some homemade blackberry syrup for morning pancakes and waffles.

I don't make much jelly in my kitchen, but I decided to give blackberry jelly a try. And wouldn't you know? We love it!

Why Use Honey?

I really, really like using honey for all my blackberry preserves!

Here's why: canning mellows the flavor in blackberry recipes.

Just like sweet cherries, you lose the edge that gives fruit its beautiful, complex flavor. This is why folks often add lemon juice to blackberry recipes that are sweetened with granulated sugar.

I like using honey, because it brings a robust, slightly acidic flavor that pairs beautifully with blackberries, without giving you a lemony aftertaste.

It's wonderful. And I think you'll enjoy it too!

Ingredients You'll Love

1. Blackberries: you can use fresh or frozen blackberries for this recipe, but fresh berries usually have the best flavor.
2. Honey: honey is a natural sweetener that pairs beautifully with the flavor of blackberry, and makes healthier syrup than anything you'll find on the grocery store shelves!
3. Non Gmo Pectin: the pectin I use (Pomona's Pectin) doesn't contain dextrose (corn or wheat derived sugar). Pomona's Universal Pectin uses the pith from citrus and calcium water for jelling.

Tips on Finding Blackberries for Jelly

1. Grow and harvest your own blackberries in late summer.
2. Check a local Farmer's market.
3. Use blackberries from your own freezer!
4. You can buy fresh or frozen blackberries at your local grocery store, but the flavor will be weaker than fresh picked berries.

Blackberries Needed for Making Jelly

On average, it takes about 3 cups of blackberries to make 1 cup of juice.

This recipe makes 7 half pint (1 cup or 250 ml) jars of jelly, so you'll need about 21 cups of fresh or frozen blackberries, juiced.

How to Make Blackberry Juice for Jelly

If you are starting from scratch, the first thing you need to do is source and juice your blackberries. I gave you tips above for finding blackberries any time of year.

I have a full tutorial for you on how to make blackberry juice. Here's a quick step-by-step overview!

1. Dump your berries into a pot and heat to a boil on the stove.
2. Cook berries for about 5 minutes, or until everything turns into a soupy mess.
3. Let berries slightly cool, while you line a bowl with a cotton cloth.
4. Pour the berries into the cloth, and tie the 4 corners together, forming a jelly bag.
5. Let the juice drip for about 2 hours, or until it stops altogether.
6. Pour juice into a jar and store in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to make jelly.

How to Make Blackberry Jelly

Measure your juice and pour it into a stock pot. While you bring it to a rolling boil, measure your honey into a small bowl. Also measure out pectin, and mix it well with the honey.

When your juice boils, measure and stir in calcium water. Immediately after, add the honey and pectin mixture, stirring well to combine.

Keep stirring while you bring the juice to a boil once again.

After the blackberry juice boils, it should be immediately ladled into jars!

I like to use a funnel, so juice doesn't drip on the rim of the jar. After wiping the jar's rim, they should be lidded, according to the preserving method.

From there, you can choose your preserving method!

3 Ways to Preserve Blackberry Jelly

With Pomona's petin, you can preserve your jelly in 3 ways (though the first is a short-term option).

Refrigerating

If you want to make a quick batch of jelly that you will eat over the next 3-4 weeks, here are my tips for refrigerator preserving!

1. Use smaller jars for your jelly, so you can quickly use it up after opening a jar.
2. Fill your jars to the rim, so there's very little oxygen in the jar.
3. Put jars in the fridge while they're still hot (please put a towel down if you have glass shelves!), and the lids will do a false seal that actually does help preserve jars for longer (you might get 5-6 weeks out of them).

Refrigerator preserving is great if you plan to use your jelly up in the next few weeks.

Freezing

If you don't want to bother with canning, you can freeze your blackberry jelly. Here are tips for that!

1. If possible, use freezer jars for jelly.
2. Leave 1/2-1 inch headspace for expansion, so you don't crack your jars.
3. You can use a tin canning lid and band, or you can use a 1 piece lid.
4. Remember to label the lids, so you know what's in your jar!

Canning

I really like canning my syrup, sauces and jellies. They're always ready to go, and don't take up fridge or freezer space. Here are my tips!

1. With jelly, make sure your canner is boiling when you finish adding pectin to the juice.
2. Syrup should always be boiling hot when it goes into jars.
3. Remember to follow processing times for your altitude.
4. Jelly jars that didn't seal an safely be refrigerated or frozen.

You can get full instructions for preserving jelly in the printable below!

Questions Folks Ask

Can I use premade blackberry juice for jelly?

Yes. But do chek and see if the juice has been sweetened before making this recipe! If so, you can mix pectin with a few tablespoons of honey, instead of the full amount.

Can I adjust the amount of honey in this recipe?

You bet! You can increase, or decrease based on your personal taste. Pomona's pectin will work, regardless of the amount. Unless you add a lot of sweetener, that is. It won't properly jell if you add too much sugar.

Can I make jelly without any honey or sugar?

Surprisingly, yes. Pomona's pectin will jell without any added sugar. However, I don't recommend it. The flavor will be poor. And sugar is a natural preservative, so no-sugar jellies will mold very quickly after being opened, even when refrigerated.

But if you want to try jelly without sweetener, I recommend making a small bacth and refrigerator preserving it, to see if you actually like the flavor.