Hot Pepper Jelly

This is my new favorite canning project?it's so easy, the jars look so pretty, and I just love pepper jelly anyway. This is pretty true to the recipe from the Ball Blue Book.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound hot peppers (I divided them by color for prettier jelly)

2 c apple cider vinegar

6 c sugar

1 box (2 pouches) liquid pectin

1 TBS butter

That's it! Just an amazing amount of sugar...

DIRECTIONS

Core and seed the peppers and cut in rough fourths or smaller. Don't worry about getting all the seeds?I leave quite a few to be blended with the peppers. 

Puree the peppers and 1 c of the vinegar. Pour into a pot, using the other 1 c of vinegar to rinse it out before adding the vinegar to the pan. Add the sugar. Bring to a boil and boil mixture uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring continuously (mine did fine with just an occasional stir, but just to be safe...). 

Add both packets of pectin and butter and return to a boil, boiling for one minute while stirring. Ladle into sterilized 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/4" head room. 

Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Yum! I made a batch with jalapeños and a batch with cherry peppers?the red and green look so pretty with each other that I've been giving a jar of each kind to people!

Makes 5 half pint jars.



VARIATIONS



Roasted Hot Pepper Jelly

Roast prepared peppers on a griddle or in a cast iron skillet until hot and beginning to have browned spots.



Alternately, roast the peppers before seeding, allowing the skins to blacken.  Put in a bowl and cover. Once cool, peel blackened skin, seed, and cut up.



Let cool and follow the rest of the recipe?I added about four banana peppers to lighten the color of the green jelly. Next year, I think I'll grow some yellow hot peppers to mix with the green.



Milder Pepper Jelly

If you don't like spicy (and if not, why are you making pepper jelly???), you can substitute bell peppers for part of the hot peppers.