Traditional canning recipes for jams and jellies use copious amounts of sugar. The sugar is necessary in jam and jelly recipes for 3 reasons: to sweeten, to set the preserve and to inhibit the growth of bacteria and mold. However, contrary to popular belief, you do not need as much sugar as many recipes call for to make jams and jellies, and you can even use natural sweeteners in place of processed sugar.

Marisa McClellan is the founder of the popular blog, Food in Jars. Her preserving recipes always strikes a balance in using just enough sugar in order for the recipe to do its work, while still tasting great. In McClellan’s latest preserving cookbook, Naturally Sweet Food in Jars, she explores sugar alternatives in preserving.

McClellan spent months revamping her small batch preserving recipes with natural sugar substitutions. The results were sucessful and she shares all that hard work in her latest book. The book is divided by the type of sweetener used: honey, maple, agave, coconut sugar, fruit juice and dried fruit. We had the opportunity to test out several of her natural sugar recipes and the results were delicious. The natural sugar beautifully matched each fruit or vegetable and the preserves set perfectly. McClellan's recipe for Peach Rosemary Glaze was one of our favorites. It goes great with pork, chicken or roasted root veggies.

Peach Rosemary Glaze

Courtesy of Marisa McClellan from Naturally Sweet Food in Jars

Ingredients

• 4 pounds yellow peaches. peeled, pitted and diced (about 6 cups)
• 2 cups honey
• grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 half-pint jars
• water bath canner and canning accessories

How to Peel Peaches

A soft skin peeler makes quick work of removing the skins off peaches. A soft skin peeler is similar to a regular vegetable peeler except it has a serrated blade that will not damage soft fleshed fruits or vegetables. If you do not have one of these tools, you can remove the skins from peaches by blanching them in hot water for a few seconds, then immediately dunking them in an ice water bath.

Make the Glaze

In a large, nonreactive stockpot, combine the peaches, honey and lemon zest and juice. Give the contents of the pot a good stir.

Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly until the liquid thickens and the peaches soften. Remove the pot from the heat and puree the peaches with an immersion blender.

Stir in the chopped rosemary and salt.

Funnel the glaze into prepared, sterilized half-pint jars. Leave 1/2 of headspace. Wipe down the rims, and appy the lid and rings.

Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy

Marisa suggests other flavor options as well. She recommends adding fresh thyme and red pepper flakes to the glaze.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Naturally Sweet Food in Jars © 2016 by Marisa McClellan, Running Press, a member of the Perseus Book Group.