Brown Sugar Glazed Baked Ham

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 08/5/21
Brown sugar glazed baked ham

Claire Cohen

 
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 2 hrs
Total: 2 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 12 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
178 Calories
4g Fat
19g Carbs
17g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 178
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g 5%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 49mg 16%
Sodium 787mg 34%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 17g
Protein 17g
Vitamin C 4mg 20%
Calcium 32mg 2%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 320mg 7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Fully cooked hams are an excellent choice for the holidays, as they're easy to prepare, feed many without effort, and make wonderful leftovers. Also great for busy families, hams can be the base for many other recipes during the week. Cook the ham on Sunday and enjoy it all week long in many dishes, from casseroles and sandwiches to soups and pasta. Excellent for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter as a wonderful centerpiece dish, our take on a maple glazed ham is simply delicious. Besides, the magic happens without much intervention from you, so if you're short on time and need to do many things at once, this is the recipe you want.

The brown sugar glaze imparts extra flavor and helps create a delicious outer crust. In a little over two hours, you can serve the ham and efficiently use your oven to make other dishes at the same time, such as roasted veggies or baked potatoes.

As the ham is already fully cooked—check that the label says so—you are just heating it up and not actually cooking the meat. It can be eaten as is, but by warming it you're ensuring the best flavor and texture. An instant-read thermometer is a great tool to have when making ham, but if you don't have one, simply follow the 18- to 20-minute rule per pound of weight in a 325 F oven.

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Ingredients

For the Ham:

  • 1 (6-pound) fully cooked ham

  • Whole cloves, for studding the ham

For the Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

  • 1/2 cup apple juice

  • 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Steps to Make It

Bake the Ham

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Line a roasting pan with foil and place a rack on it. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the ham, fat side up, on a rack in the prepared roasting pan. Score the fat all over in a diamond pattern, cutting to a depth of about 3/4 of an inch. Stud with whole cloves, inserting one clove into each intersection of the diamond pattern.

  3. Bake the ham in the preheated oven for about 18 to 20 minutes per pound. For a 6-pound ham, the cooking time is around 1 hour and 40 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Make the Glaze

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, apple juice, mustard, and ground cinnamon. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Constantly stirring to avoid it boiling over, boil for 2 minutes. Reserve.

Glaze the Ham

  1. About 20 minutes before the ham is done, carefully spoon about half of the glaze over the ham and return it to the oven.

  2. After 10 minutes, brush the remaining glaze mixture over the ham.

  3. Remove the ham from the oven when an instant-read thermometer registers at least 140 F in the thickest of the meat, away from fat or bone. 140 F is the optimal temperature for a fully cooked ham. Cover the ham loosely with foil and let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes. If you don't have a thermometer and the cooking time has passed, just check that the grain of the meat separates when tearing a piece apart with two forks as if you were shredding other cooked meat.

  4. Carve and serve with your favorites sides.

  5. Enjoy!

How to Cook and Store Ham

Here is a summary of our expert tips for an optimal ham meal:

  • A fully cooked ham that has not been USDA inspected—most are, but check the label—must be cooked to a safe minimum temperature of 165 F. If the ham is labeled "cook-before-eating," cook it to a minimum temperature of 145 F.
  • A half ham weighs approximately 5 to 7 pounds. For a whole ham that ranges between 10 to 15 pounds, allow the same 18 to 20 minutes per pound but double the amounts on the glaze ingredients. You need around 1/2 pound of ham per person.
  • Always place the leftover ham in the fridge and keep tightly covered for 3 to 4 days.

Recipe Variation

  • Replace the maple syrup with honey or agave nectar if you prefer.