Maple Glazed Ham includes just 4 ingredients, including orange marmalade, pure maple syrup, and butter. Equally as wonderful, it requires only a few easy steps and your oven does all the magic. Make this ham recipe for any holiday meal, special occasion or an everyday delight.
18-10 lb.bone-in, cured or smoked half ham, shank portion or butt portion (either one works fine for this recipe)
2/3 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2Tbs.butter
1/3cupchopped, toasted pecans completely optional
Instructions
Cook the Ham
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Remove all packaging material from the ham, discarding the glaze packet that is usually included.
Lay out two very long sheets of extra-wide heavy-duty aluminum foil, crisscrossing them over each other to create an X. Place the ham, flat side down, onto the center of where the foil crisscrosses.
Wrap the ham very tightly in the foil, using more foil if needed to cover the ham completely. Place the wrapped ham into a roasting pan, flat-side-down.
Bake the ham at 15 minutes per pound of ham until the ham is hot throughout and has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. **As an example, an 8 pound ham will take about 2 hours to fully cook. At this point of the baking process, the ham will look pretty unimpressive but don't worry! The next step of glazing the ham is when all the magic happens.
Make the Maple Glaze
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by combining the orange marmalade and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium high heat; bring the glaze to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Add the butter, whisking until melted; reserve the glaze keeping it warm. **If you want to include the pecans, stir them into the glaze in at this point.
Glaze the Ham
Two thirds of the way through the baking process, remove the ham from the oven. Unwrap the ham, folding the foil back and away from the ham, yet keeping it in tact to hold the ham juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the foil. Keep the remaining glaze warm to drizzle over the pieces of ham to be served.
Using a silicone basting brush or a spoon, liberally slather the ham with half of the prepared maple glaze. **Keep the remaining glaze warm to serve with the sliced ham, as desired.
Continue to bake the ham, uncovered, for the remaining time until it reaches 145 degrees F. internal temperature at the center when tested with an instant-read meat thermometer. **The ham should be nicely caramelized and sticky all over the exterior.
Serve the Ham
Once the ham is hot at the center and the exterior is caramelized, remove it from the oven. Transfer the ham to a cutting board and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Slice the ham into thick slices and serve with more maple glaze on the side, as desired.