Growing up, one of my favorite jellies was mint apple jelly. This is probably due to the fact that it was my dad’s favorite. He’s been gone a few years and I miss him dearly. Well, this last weekend I decided to take some mint that we have growing in our yard and make mint apple jelly. My wife and kids (all people who aren’t huge fans of mint) weren’t really excited when I mentioned that I wanted to make it, but I assured them that they had to try it before having an opinion one way or the other. We always encourage our kids to try new foods—you never know! It might be your favorite food ever! Also, my wife has been complaining about the mint taking over the corner of the garden–she was happy to pull up a bunch of it for me to use!
Anyway, we had some Martinelli Apple Juice (our family favorite!), so I boiled it with mint leaves from our garden and steeped it (like you would tea) for about 10 minutes. Once it was steeped, I strained it through a sieve, returned it to a pot and added some pectin, a teaspoon of butter (to prevent foaming), and a few drops of green food coloring. I brought it to a rolling boil that wouldn’t stop when the mixture was stirred. Once it came to a rolling boil, I added lots of sugar. After adding the sugar, I got it to the rolling boil point again. This time, I let it boil for exactly one minute while stirring constantly and the took it off the heat. Just like that, we have mint apple jelly!
At this point, you have a couple of choices–you are able to can it or just let cool and use. This is a really easy recipe and it turns out so delicious! After trying it, my wife and kids LOVE this delicious concoction. Every time I taste it, it takes me back to being a child and eating mint apple jelly and toast with my dad. It’s such a refreshing jelly, the mint is mellowed by the apple juice and sugar. Truly delicious! So if you have some extra mint that you want to use up, I suggest giving this recipe a try. Enjoy!
