9:00 am - 60 degrees - light breeze...
I had never heard of Monkey
Butter until I ran across it on Pinterest. The name alone caught my attention and sounded
delicious – bananas, pineapples and coconut - yum! So I decided to give it a try.
Wow! This was the easiest freezer jam I’ve ever
made and it is soooo gooood!!!
Although this delicious recipe
is called Monkey Butter, it’s actually a jam (freezer jam since long-term shelf
canning is not recommended). Store it in
the freezer (up to a year) until you want to use it, then you store it in the
fridge (up to 4-6 weeks).
There are so many uses for this
yummy Monkey Butter... put it on toast, biscuits, scones, waffles, pancakes, crepes,
ice cream, cake filling, etc! Another
great thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are, for the most part,
available year-round – that means you can make it any time of the year!
~ Monkey Butter ~
5 medium-size ripe bananas (no
brown spots)
20 oz. can crushed pineapple (with
pineapple juice)
1/4 cup small shredded coconut
(or ground if you can find it)
3 cups white sugar
3 Tbsp bottled lemon juice (to
assure acidity)
6-8 half pint sterilized jars
1. In a large pot, add the
peeled and sliced bananas, crushed pineapple (pineapple juice and all), coconut,
sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil,
stirring constantly.
2. After bringing to a boil,
lower to a simmer and cook until thickened, still stirring constantly. {Note: if you feel it is too chunky, you can
use a potato masher while stirring to get some of the lumps out.}
3. When the Monkey Butter has
reduced to a nice thick jam it’s ready to can.
Set out your sterilized jars and fill them using a wide mouthed funnel
to within half an inch of the rim. Put
the lids on and let cool.
4. Once the jars have
completely cooled you can either place them in the fridge (4-6 weeks) or put them
in the freezer. {Note: Don’t forget to
write on the lid or make a label stating what it is and the date you made it.}
{Note: If you are not a fan of
coconut, you can substitute it for mangos!}
{Note: Some websites say that you can put the jars of
Monkey Butter into a 10-15 minute water bath for long term canning. But according
to the National Center for Home Food Preservation “There are no home canning recommendations available for fruit purees
using bananas, coconut, mango, ….” So
just to play it safe, and since Monkey Butter contains both bananas and coconut,
I would not recommend canning Monkey Butter for any long term shelf life
canning. However, it can go into the
freezer for up to a year or the refrigerator anywhere from 4-6 weeks.}
-- Enjoy!
