This delicious Corn Cob Jelly is light, sweet and incredibly delicate and delicious. It tastes a whole lot like honey on anything you spread it on.
Love making Jelly? Try our Honesuckle Jelly, Pink Peony Jelly or check out these Unique Jelly and Jam Recipes.
Saving Summer is my the theme for today and it’s something that’s pretty near and dear to my heart.
My garden is constantly over flowing with fruits and veggies that I can’t use up fast enough.
Last year we had an over abundance of banana peppers and blueberries.
This year it has been strawberries, blueberries and corn. Yes, corn.
Welcome to my world. I live in Missouri and it’s pretty abundant here.
I actually remember the first time I told someone in Florida, that I actually grow corn in my garden.
She laughed and laughed. I guess that does seem kinda strange to someone from Florida but here it’s a household staple.
It’s everywhere. You don’t even have to go far from my house to find corn field after corn field.
No really. Less than 5 minutes.
Since I have such an abundance of corn this year, I thought it only fitting to make that the subject for today.
We made Corn Cob Jelly.
This delicious Corn Cob Jelly is light, sweet and tastes a whole lot like honey.
I got this recipe from my blogging friend Pam from Blueberries and Blessings (blog is gone now) and set about making it nearly immediately.
I cannot tell you how happy I am we tried it and we’ve made it a bunch since!
The first time we tried making Corn Cob Jelly, it never did firm up all the way.
At first, I was disappointed but then realized it had turned into a delicious, thick syrup for waffles and pancakes.
Okay, that works, I guess. But not what I wanted.
It was delicious, but it definitely lacked the jelly consistency that I was looking for.
At least I now know how to make Corn Cob Syrup and yes I have made a few batches.
Since what I wanted was Jelly, I was determined to get some Corn Cob Jelly this year.
So I tweaked the recipe, mixing it with a few others after doing some research.
It all related to the sugar amount.
The less sugar I used, the more syrupy my liquid would be, and no amount of letting it sit in the fridge or anywhere was changing that.
The balance seems to be the amount of cups of water should equal the amount of cups of sugar added.
That seems to work pretty well.
I seem to get about 3 ½ cups of liquid after straining each time I make this, so that’s what I used in sugar.
This held true whether I used regular fruit pectin or it’s low sugar counterpart.
So use whichever you prefer.
While I certainly have an over abundance of corn growing, it isn’t generally ready all at the same time.
So, my other trick is to freeze the corn cobs after removing the kernels for other uses.
I might only pull 2 or 3 a day, so I pop them in a freezer bag after I’ve removed the kernels.
When I am ready to whip up a batch of Corn Cob Jelly, I just allow a little more time when I am boiling to let the flavor into the water.
I’ve had no problems doing this, so if you’re like me and don’t typically have 12 corn cobs all at the same time, freezing works.
Oh and one more fun little trick.
When I remove the corn cobs from the water, I allow them to dry out completely.
They make AWESOME fire starters for those fall campfires or fire pits.
Well, either that or you can share it with any small rodents you have living in your house.
The Corn Cob Jelly is excellent on:
- toast
- English muffins
- toast
- pancakes
- waffles
- pork chops
- steaks
- anywhere you would add jelly or even honey
Have you ever made or tried Corn Cob Jelly? You really must!
More Budget Friendly Summer Recipes
- Freeze Cherries
- Freeze Herbs
- Make Freezer Harvest Soup Kits
- Oven Dry Cherries
- Classic Freezer Tomato Sauce
- Pico De Gallo
- Spring Conserve
- Hot Pepper Jelly
- Peach Preserves
- Raw Raspberry-Vanilla Chia Jam
- Refrigerator Pickled Jalapeños with Herb
More unique jelly/jam recipes
The sweet taste of childhood summer’s fills this jar of Honeysuckle Jelly. It’s a mixture of summer and childhood and can be used for so many things!
A little bit of sunshine in a jar. This Blood Orange Marmalade has a sweet, yet subtly tart citrus flavor that makes you think of a sunny day!
The sweet summery goodness of Blueberries, the tangy taste of lemon and the sweet spiciness of basil combines in this gorgeous and very delicious jam.
The sweet taste of summer in a jar of Watermelon Jelly. This jelly is delicious and goes great on a slice of bread, topping pancakes or waffles or even used in fruit salad or baked goods.
Canning Tips & Tricks
- canning is definitely a science, and if you’ve never done it before, be sure to read up and do some research not only on the recipe you choose, but also on your location. Things like elevation, climate and other factors drastically affect how your outcome will be.
- If your jelly did not set, and looks more like a syrup (which you can also use), it is usually a problem that is caused by the temperature you used, pectin problems (old, expired, exposed to moisture, using a different type than the recipe calls for, etc), or incorrect measurements (like measuring the amount of fruit/vegetables differently than the recipe calls for, etc.).
- If the Corn Cob Jelly is cooked at too high a temperature, it can destroy the pectins’ ability to jell but if it’s not boiled long enough it won’t set either. As I said, a major science experiment.
- Corn Cob Jelly does need to fully cool before it jells.
- If you need to fix a recipe that has not jelled correctly, and is like syrup, try these canning fixes.
Recipe for Corn Cob Jelly
Corn Cob Jelly
Ingredients
- 12 corn cobs kernels removed
- 1 package 1-¾ ounces powdered fruit pectin
- 3 ½-4 cups sugar
- a drop or two of yellow food coloring
- 3 ½-4 cups of water from boiling the corn cobs.
Instructions
- Remove corn kernels from cobs and save for another recipe or use as a side dish for dinner.
- In a large pot, drop corncobs with about 6-8 cups of water; bring to a boil.
- Boil uncovered for about 10 minutes.
- Throw away the cobs and strain the liquid to remove extra pieces, etc.
- Reserve 3 ½ cups of liquid. You can throw out the rest.
- Place the corn cob water back into the large pot and stir in the pectin. Bring to a strong boil.
- Add the sugar and bring back to a boil.
- Skim the foam off the top and add a few drops of yellow food coloring if you’d like.
- Ladle the liquid into jelly jars, leaving about ½ to 1 inch head-space
- Place the seal and rings on the jar and process the jelly in a water bath for about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove and set aside. As they cool, listen for the jars to pop.
- If for some reason they do not pop, just put that jar into the refrigerator and use it within 2 weeks.
- Shelf life (for popped jars) is 1-2 years
Nancy
Wednesday 4th of August 2021
How can I save my jelly..? It never set up?
Nicole Cook
Friday 6th of August 2021
I'm so sorry that it didn't set up. There are so many variables, so it's often hard to troubleshoot what might have gone wrong. I've had my own different jellies not set before and I usually use the information on this page: https://www.pickyourown.org/how_to_fix_runny_jam.htm I hope it helps you too!
Ruth Neubert
Saturday 31st of July 2021
I'm hoping my corn cob jelly will be as good as my mom's was back in the day! We were a family of 9 and had a HUGE garden. My mom was born in 1927 so lived through the depression.
As I tell my husband, born and raised in town, he won't make it through tough times like I can...living off the earth! Glad for my SW Wisconsin upbringing where foraging or hunting for food was a commonplace event and trained me to make items like...watermelon rind pickles.
Thanks for the recipe
Patricia May Sampson
Thursday 5th of November 2020
Can I use field corn cobs for making jelly?
Scarlet | Family Focus Blog
Saturday 15th of February 2020
Wow. I have never even hear of corn on the cob jelly! I love stumbling across new recipes like this. It reminds you just how much variety really is out there.
Whitney
Monday 20th of August 2018
I made this tonight and followed the recipe to a t and for some reason its just not setting. :( any ideas?
Nicole Cook
Saturday 25th of August 2018
Hi Whitney, I hope by now it has set up. It usually isn't instant. If it didn't setup correctly, my first guess would be that maybe you're at a different elevation or humidity level than I am. I have made this several times following this recipe and haven't had it not set up, but it usually takes a day or so before it's set up. Hope that helps.