Today I’m making Candied Peppers. These candied peppers are commonly referred to as “Cowboy Candy” but because we are using a variety of peppers in ours, rather than just jalapeños, I’m just calling it Candied Peppers…or Garden Candy!
Every summer, my daughter grows a variety of peppers. This year we had about 8 varieties. Some peppers grew better than others, some produced more and some we ate from all summer long and still have a bunch to eat. Since we had so many peppers this year, we thought to try something different and make candied peppers.
We have never made candied peppers before, so I am looking forward to preserving our garden peppers in a new way besides freezing them.
Let’s get to it — but first, let me tell you about the peppers we’re using.
Here are a few of what we harvested. Clockwise we have Jalapenos, Lola Sweet Pepper and Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry.
These jalapeños are surprisingly not spicy and taste like a green bell pepper. The Lola Sweet Pepper is a sweeter pepper but has the flavor similar to yellow or orange bell peppers. The Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry usually turn a deep purple-brownish color but these are staying a yellow-green. They taste pretty much the same when ripened and remind me of green bell peppers but a bit sweeter. They’re my favorite we grew this year.
We also have Snacking Bell Peppers which taste like a sweeter bell pepper.
And we have Kitchen Hot Lemon Peppers which are incredibly spicy and will burn your fingers!
I didn’t know how spicy they were until I tasted it because we have never grown this variety before. They don’t smell spicy. And whether these peppers are green or yellow, they’re hot little buggers!
I slice and chop our homegrown jalapeno peppers without wearing gloves all the time because they are simply not spicy, so to be honest, I did not think that these hot lemon peppers would burn so bad. Six hours later, and my fingers still burn and have small heat blisters. Lesson learned — when the variety is “hot,” I’ll wear gloves!!
We also have another Jalapeno which is lighter in color and taste like a strong green pepper. For some reason, they’re not spicy either.
Here’s 3 pounds of peppers using nearly all of our peppers we grew in our garden.
As I am slicing the peppers, I am keeping a lot of the seeds so we can grow these varieties next year. You do not have to remove the seeds, just slice and toss them in the bowl.
The 3 pounds of peppers turned into 10 cups of sliced peppers. Put peppers in a bowl and set aside.
In a large pot, combine sugar and vinegar together.
Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes.
Add peppers and cook for 10 minutes.
I made the mistake of using the wrong size jars. Initially I was using 500ml/pint jars but would only get 2-1/2 jars and it seemed a bit much to eat at a time, so I dumped the peppers back into the pot of syrup instead of into a bowl. Unfortunately the peppers kept cooking, as I was prepping 250ml/half pint jars. I may have overcooked them, as you can see, but they still taste really good (I snuck a pepper to taste test!).
Remove peppers and place in prepared jars. Bring the syrup back to a boil and cook 9 minutes. Divide syrup between the jars. Wipe rims, place on seals and rings just finger tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
I am going to wait a few weeks before I taste the peppers so they have time to sit in the syrup and hopefully become a bit sweeter. They look and smell amazing! Thanks think they’ll be a great topper for chili, tacos and nachos!
Candied Peppers
Generally the recipe calls for jalapeños for Cowboy Candy or banana peppers for Cowgirl Candy — we’re using a variety of peppers we grew in our garden so I guess it’s Cow Candy – or maybe just Garden Candy!
3lbs peppers or 10 cups sliced
6 cups sugar
2 cups pickling vinegar
Slice peppers, wearing gloves if you are using a spicy variety. Put peppers in a bowl and set aside. In a large pot, combine sugar and vinegar together. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Add peppers and cook for 10 minutes. Remove peppers and place in prepared jars. Bring the syrup back to a boil and cook 9 minutes. Divide syrup between the jars. Wipe rims, place on seals and rings finger tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Yields 6 – 250ml/half pint jars
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours