Spicy Bread & Butter Pickles

You can fully cook these bread & butter pickles in the microwave and store them in your fridge for several weeks rather than going through a traditional canning process. I did the full canning process here and have given a step by step…it’s surprisingly easy and this was my first time! I don’t why I had always been intimidated by canning, my mother did it all the time. After sticking my toe in the pool with these pickles there’s no stopping me now!

I like my pickles to have a nice bite to them so if you’re going to can your pickles they will continue to cook during the hot bath step.  This means you’ll want to cut back on the microwave cooking time to keep your pickles crisp.

It is easy to taste as you go, although the flavors require a full 24 hours to really show themselves off. If you don’t want them spicy, just leave the tomatoes with peppers out of the pickles.

I munched on these with cheese and crackers, chopped them up and used them as relish. I gave a fair number away as gifts and they helped make up a great basket with wine and cheese. Cucumbers are very inexpensive in season so do yourself a favor and spend an afternoon making pickles. It’s a very good thing indeed.

Spicy Bread & Butter Pickles

2015-03-08 14:04:06

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Ingredients

1. 7 -8 pickling cucumbers sliced (washed and scrubbed thoroughly)
2. 1 onion thinly sliced
3. 1/4 cup Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes With Zesty Peppers (cut in half)
4. 1/2 cup white vinegar
5. 2/3 cup white sugar
6. 1 tsp. kosher salt (must be kosher or pickling salt)
7. 1/2 tsp. heaping tsp. mustard seed
8. 1/4 tsp. celery seed
9. 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together into a microwave safe bowl, stir to mix. Place in microwave for 3 minutes on high, remove and stir.
2. If you are not going to be canning these pickles into jars, just place back in the microwave for another 4 minutes on high, make sure the cucumbers are just slightly soft and then transfer to sterile containers and then into the fridge for 24 hours to develop full flavor.
3. If canning, do not microwave more than 3 minutes. Transfer the pickle mixture into sterilized jars (this recipe will fill 2 pint size jars) and then make your next batch. I processed 4 jars at a time.
4. To can, just make sure the jars have been sterilized in a 175 degree oven right side up for 25 minutes. Boil the lids and seals in water for 5 minutes and let them sit in the hot water until you are ready to put them in the jars. Leave a 1/2" border at the top of your jar and don't over tighten your lids, just screw them on until they don't resist. Place into a pasta sleeve or canning pot of boiling water that covers the jars by one inch. Boil the jars for 15 minutes. The water will reduce to a soft boil, that's okay.
5. Remove by lifting the pasta sleeve or using canning tongs. You will hear the lids "pop" when the jars are completely sealed.

By Chris Bonney - My Mother's Daughter

My Mother's Daughter http://mymothersdaughter.net/

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