Friday, August 10, 2012

Monkey Jam

Some of you have been asking for the recipe for making Monkey Butter.  What is  Monkey Butter?  (besides yummy?)  It is a spread made with banana's. Yep, banana's! The first time I had ever heard of canning bananas was from Jen over at The Double Nickle Farm.   I just love banana's so I was instantly intrigued. After doing some research I found that there was very little information on canning banana's. The most popular and most referred to recipe I could find was Kris Watson's article  but there are others floating out there as well. 

Once in awhile I find banana's marked down for quick sale. Ripe banana's that need to be eaten quickly or frozen for later use in making banana bread or muffins.  So after finding one heck of a deal on them a few weeks ago I decided I was going to try canning banana's.  Here's the version I came up with. A SciFi version if you will! I decided I wanted a jam instead of a butter this time.

Monkey Jam
Makes: about 8 (1-cup) jars.

4 cups prepared fruit (about 11 fully ripe medium bananas)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cans crushed pineapple
1 box powdered fruit pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional)
6 cups sugar,  separate


Get your water bath canner going and sterilize your jars. Warm your lids in a small pot.


Mash the banana's and measure 4 cups into a big pan. Stir in the lemon juice and the crushed pineapple into the fruit. Add the pectin. Then add the butter to reduce foaming if you want.


  Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (one that won't stir down) on high heat. Stir constantly. Stir in all the sugar at once. Bring the mixture back to aa full rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

Spoon into your jars, and fill  to within 1/4 inch of tops. Use a knife and pop any air bubbles.  Wipe the jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw the bands finger tight. Place the jars on a rack in canner.  Process 15 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. If a jar doesn't seal be sure to put it in the fridge and use within 3 months. (I doubt if it lasts nearly that long)


I tried three different recipes and have to say they were all good.  The main difference I ran across was the amount of banana's used in the recipes.  All except one called for about 4 cups of banana's.  Only one called for pectin.They all came out really good but I think the one that worked best for me was the one I shared with you here.  I had a hard time with the ones with no pectin actually setting up as well.  More of a loose spread than I was looking for but they sure don't lack for good flavor. I guess though that's why they call it Monkey Butter instead of Monkey Jam.  Duhhh.....me.

15 comments:

  1. Ok, the whole "Monkey" thing just freaks me out (I don't like monkeys, don't know why, just don't) but I do have to admit that your SciFi Banana Jam sounds good enough that I'm going to try in next time I see a bunch o' bananas on sale.

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  2. Now you got me thinking about "Monkey Butter" again! I'm going on a search for some right now!

    Man, I get hungry nearly every time I come over here! Thanks, Sci!

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    1. Jim, You bring the coffee and I'll bring the goodies!

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  3. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I do not do well with things that require pectin, every time I do it comes out too stiff, or too loose. but I will give this a shot.

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    1. I have the same problem with pectin!

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    2. JUGM I don't think you would be disappointed. I'm fairly new to making jams but this one was pretty easy. If you don't want to use pectin and would rather have a butter instead of a jam then check out Kris's recipe. It's a good one too.

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  4. The fires must be under control by now. Glad to see you are safe and well. I buy what most people consider over-ripe bananas for green smoothies. It's nice to see another great use for them :-)

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    1. Sue, we are good for now but everyone is on high alert as we are still under an Extreme Fire Alert. Some of the fires are still smoldering and they are trying to get them all out. We are just hoping the winds don't pick up.
      Green smoothies? OK I'm intrigued. Wanna share that recipe with us?

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  5. Sci,

    I have all kinds of bananas in the freezer, I will have to thaw out and try this recipe. It sounds amazing, I've never used bananas in a jam before. Thank you for sharing the recipe my friend! I can't wait to try it out.

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    1. Sandy,
      Give it a try. It doesn't take any time at all to whip up a batch. If you like banana's you'll like this. Let me know how it goes for you!

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  6. Can this be done with less sugar?

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    1. I haven't made it with less sugar but I'm sure you could cut it some or use a sugar substitute.

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  7. Well, like sandy I have a bit of banana's in the freezer stashed for banana bread. This would be great to try. Thanks for sharing the recipe

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    1. No problems Kati! I hope you enjoy it. Personally I'm glad to have found another use for the frozen banana's!

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  8. I made Monkey Jam today. It turned out really well. Family likes it on peanut butter sandwiches. We made a modified banana split using it as a topping for ice cream, added chocolate syrup, and few thawed frozen strawberries. It was wonderful thank you.

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