Honey Blackberry Jam Canning Recipe

Turn your summer blackberry crop into delicious, healthy jam with this tested Honey blackberry jam canning recipe!

There is nothing quite like peak berry season on the homestead. When the blackberry patches overflow and the counters fill up with overflowing bowls of deep, purple-black fruit, my kitchen turns into a full-scale preservation line! This year, after bringing in a massive harvest, I ended up with 64 cups of mashed blackberries ready for the pot.

When you have that many fresh berries, the last thing you want to do is drown out their natural tart-sweet goodness with cups upon cups of refined white sugar. That’s where raw honey and bottled lemon juice come in. Sweetening blackberry jam with honey creates a rich, vibrant flavor that lets the true taste of fresh-picked berries shine—all while keeping your pantry stocked with a low-sugar treat your whole family will love.

If you prefer a traditional low-sugar jam made with regular cane sugar or alternative sweeteners, pop over to my original Low-Sugar Blackberry Jam Recipe!

Why Honey + Pomona’s Pectin?

If you’ve ever canned traditional jam, you know it usually calls for a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar just to get a proper set. But when you want to sweeten naturally with raw honey, standard store-bought pectin just won’t cut it.

That’s why Pomona’s Universal Pectin is a staple in my homestead pantry. Pomona’s relies on calcium water (which comes included in every box) rather than sugar to activate the gel test. This gives you complete control: you can sweeten your jam with as much or as little raw honey as your tastebuds prefer!

To round out the flavor, we add bottled lemon juice. Not only does the bright citrus cut through the rich honey sweetness to give us that perfect tart flavor profile, but it also guarantees the proper acid levels required for safe water bath canning.

Harvest & Prep Tips (Handling a Massive Berry Yield)

When you’re staring down 64 cups of blackberries, processing everything can feel a little intimidating. Here is how I manage a huge harvest without getting overwhelmed:

Wash & Cull in Cold Water: Fill a large sink or water basin with cold water to gently float off any garden debris, leaves, or stray bugs.

Mash in Stages: Use a food processor, potato masher or heavy pastry blender to crush the berries. If your family prefers a smoother texture, you can run a portion of the mashed berries through a food mill or mesh strainer to remove seeds—though we love keeping ours rustic!

Scrape & Stir for Large Pots: While standard wisdom often warns against cooking huge batches, you can do it successfully with Pomona’s Pectin! Because Pomona’s only requires a quick 1-to-2-minute boil to activate (rather than a long reduction boil), you don’t have to worry as much about the jam scorching over time.

The Long Spatula Secret: To make stirring a massive 64-cup pot manageable, use a long BBQ spatula. The flat, wide edge lets you scrape every inch of the bottom of the pot as you stir, keeping the honey and fruit moving smoothly until it hits that quick rolling boil!

Working in Batches (Optional):

If you don’t have a giant heavy-bottomed pot or a long spatula to keep a huge harvest moving, working in standard 4-cup or 8-cup batches is a great alternative. It helps smaller pots heat evenly and keeps your kitchen workflow manageable!

Step-by-Step Canning Instructions

Equipment Needed

• Water bath canner with rack
• Half-pint or pint canning jars, lids, and bands.
• Heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot
• Jar lifter, bubble remover, and canning funnel
• Long BBQ Spatual to stir pot of berries and scrape the bottom. This helps prevent scorching on the bottom. 😉

1. Prepare Your Calcium Water
   Mix Pomona’s calcium powder (from the white packet) with water in a smaller jar. Shake well. (Store leftover calcium water in the fridge for your next batch!) Add ½ teaspoon of calcium water per 1 cup of fruit into your pot before bringing it to a boil (e.g., 2 tsp for a standard 4-cup batch)
2. Mix the Pectin into Warm Honey
   In a small bowl, combine your measured raw honey and Pomona’s pectin powder. Stir vigorously until thoroughly blended. Pro Tip: Mixing the pectin directly into the warm honey before adding it to the pot prevents the pectin from clumping in the cold fruit juice! Mix your pectin into the warm honey using ½ teaspoon of Pomona’s pectin per 1 cup of fruit (and ¼ to ½ cup of honey per 4 cups of fruit, depending on how sweet you like it)
3. Bring the Fruit to a Boil
   In your heavy-bottomed pot, combine your mashed blackberries, bottled lemon juice, and prepared calcium water. Stir well and bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil over medium-high heat. Combine your mashed blackberries, calcium water, and ½ tablespoon of bottled lemon juice per 1 cup of fruit (2 tbsp per 4-cup batch) in your heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a full rolling boil.
4. Stir in the Honey-Pectin Mixture
   Add your honey and pectin mixture to the boiling fruit. Stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes while returning the pot to a full, rolling boil. Once it reaches a boil that cannot be stirred down, remove the pot from the heat.
5. Ladle into Jars & Process

• Ladle hot jam into warm, clean jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace.
• De-bubble with a utensil, wipe the jar rims clean with a damp towel, adjust lids, and screw bands on until fingertip-tight.
• Process jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (adjusting for your local elevation as needed).
• Carefully remove jars with your jar lifter and let them sit undisturbed on a towel for 12 to 24 hours to cool and set!

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