Sugar Free Mandarin Marmalade

Have you ever found such an amazing deal on something that it changed your weekend plans?! Well I found such a deal on mandarin oranges! So I decided to spend the majority of the weekend making marmalade :)

Yes I bought alot! (but marmalade makes a great Christmas present!)

I'm going to give you my recipe to make 4 pints, I doubled the recipe so I could make 8 pints at a time. Then, I made several batches of that :)

Start with 4 cups of mandarin segments, which is about 16 mandarins. And 1 1/2 cups lemon segments or about 3 lemons. Wash all the fruit, because some of that peel is going in the marmalade.

Put an extra large pot of water on high & bring it to just before a boil. Submerge your jars & lids in the water to sanitize & get hot to soften the glue on the lids.

Then, using a potato peeler, peel off the orange part of the skin, trying to not get as much of the white underneath as possible. The white can be bitter & spongy, so not something you want in your marmalade. After you have finished peeling off the outer layer, peel the white off & throw it away.

You will do the same with the lemons. Make sure you breathe really deep while peeling the lemon, isn't that the greatest smell?! Makes me think of lemon meringue pie!

Then segment the orange, cut off the white in the middle, & cut the segment in half.

Continue until you have 4 cups of orange segments (in my first batch I did not cut the segments in half, but decided during cooking that it would help them break down into the marmalade better, so you are welcome to learn from my experience :).

Do the same with the lemon slices, making sure to get out any seeds. I found very few seeds in the mandarins, but the lemons made up for it!

Now you will want to start your canner heating up so it's at a nice boil when you need it. I had to take my jars off the stove to do this. If you have a big enough stove to have the jars & the canner on it while also cooking the marmalade, then more power to you (& can I come use your kitchen next time I'm canning?!)

Put the peels in a large pot with 2 cup water & 1/8 tsp baking soda & bring to a boil. Once they are boiling turn it down to simmer & cover with a lid for 20 minutes.

While the peels are simmering, stir together 1/2 cup splenda & 4 Tbsp Ball Real Fruit No Sugar Pectin in a large bowl (if you are using the boxed pectin, you will need to use 1 1/3 boxes, the Ball pectin requires less than the boxed pectin). At this point you can add some spice if you would like. Consider 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, or ginger, or clove. Our favorite was adding both cinnamon & clove to a batch :)

Then stir the fruit into the Splenda- Pectin mixture. Let sit until peels have finished simmering.

Add the fruit to the peels & add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then bring down to a simmer, put a lid on it & let simmer for 10 minutes.

Once it is done simmering, add 3 1/2 cups splenda & stir together well & bring back to a rolling boil. Let it boil for one minute, while stirring.

Now it's time to put the marmalade in the jars! I highly recommend Ball's funnel, it has a large mouth to catch drips, which is great if you aren't so neat in the kitchen :)

Fill the jars to where the neck starts, or to 1/4 inch from the top.

Put the lids & rings on them & put them in the boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes take them out of the water canner & let sit to seal & cool overnight. I also highly recommend these special can tongs made by Ball, they hold the can securely, which is important when dealing with boiling hot breakable jars! As they cool, they will "pop" when they seal. I see this as them telling me good job on the canning ;) Any that do not seal (the top still clicks when pressed on) can be put in the fridge & eaten first.

Now you have mandarin marmalade to enjoy! I see a marmalade covered pork tenderloin in my future! Below is the printable recipe.

Sugar Free Mandarin Marmalade

Makes 4 pints

about 16 mandarin oranges (4 cups once segmented)

3 lemons (1 1/2 cups once segmented)

1/8 tsp Baking Soda

4 cups water

4 cups Splenda

4 Tbsp Ball Real Fruit No Sugar Pectin

1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon or ground ginger or ground clove (optional)

4 pint canning jars with lids & rings

Wash all the fruit, because some of that peel is going in the marmalade.

Put an extra large pot of water on high & bring it to just before a boil. Submerge your jars & lids in the water to sanitize & get hot to soften the glue on the lids.

Then, using a potato peeler, peel off the orange part of the skin, trying to not get as much of the white underneath as possible. The white can be bitter & spongy, so not something you want in your marmalade. After you have finished peeling off the outer layer, peel the white off & throw it away. You will do the same with the lemons. Then segment the orange, cut off the white in the middle, & cut the segment in half. Continue until you have 4 cups of orange segments. Do the same with the lemon slices, making sure to get out any seeds.

Now you will want to start your canner heating up so it's at a nice boil when you need it. I had to take my jars off the stove to do this.

Put the peels in a large pot with 2 cup water & 1/8 tsp baking soda & bring to a boil. Once they are boiling turn it down to simmer & cover with a lid for 20 minutes.

While the peels are simmering, stir together 1/2 cup splenda & 4 Tbsp Ball Real Fruit No Sugar Pectin in a large bowl (if you are using the boxed pectin, you will need to use 1 1/3 boxes, the Ball pectin requires less than the boxed pectin). At this point you can add some spice if you would like. Consider 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, or ginger, or clove. Then stir the fruit into the Splenda- Pectin mixture. Let sit until peels have finished simmering.

Add the fruit to the peels & add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then bring down to a simmer, put a lid on it & let simmer for 10 minutes.

Once it is done simmering, add 3 1/2 cups splenda & stir together well & bring back to a rolling boil. Let it boil for one minute, while stirring.

Now it's time to put the marmalade in the jars! Fill the jars to where the neck starts, or to 1/4 inch from the top. Put the lids & rings on them & put them in the boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes take them out of the water canner & let sit to seal & cool overnight. As they cool, they will "pop" when they seal. Any that do not seal (the top still clicks when pressed on) can be put in the fridge & eaten first. Enjoy!