Homemade Hot Pepper Jelly

I love this pepper jelly – it makes one of the best quick appetizers around and an instant gift too.  This is a recipe that we prepare by water bath canning. We’ve been making it for years now and I can’t imagine not having some around!

When prepping the hot peppers for this recipe, be sure to wash your hands before touching your eyes/nose after touching the peppers. Otherwise, you may end up being very uncomfortable – the pepper juice can be painful.

For a quick appetizer, just pour some over cream cheese (or preferably homemade goat cheese), and put out butter crackers. The cheese plus spicy jelly makes a wonderful appetizer!

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Hot Pepper Jelly

Ingredients

• 1 cup green bell pepper (seeded & diced small)
• 1 cup red bell pepper (seeded & diced small)
• 1/2 cup jalapeno pepper (seeded & diced small)
• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 6 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pack liquid pectin

Instructions

1. Sterilize 1/2 pint canning jars and lids. Prepare hot water canner and bring water in canner just to boiling point.
2. In a large, non-reactive pot, bring all ingredients except pectin to a rolling boil. Add the pectin and return to a boil. Boil for 1 1/2 minutes, remove from the burner, and hot pack into 1/2 pint jars.
3. Place lids and rings on the jars, making sure the rings are finger tight. Process the jars in the water bath canner for 10 minutes. After processing, as mixture starts to jell, turn jars to distribute pepper pieces throughout.
4. Make sure all jars have developed a vacuum before storing (any jars that don't develop a vacuum should be refrigerated and used immediately).

Recipe Notes

This recipe doesn't make a "firm" jelly, just one thick enough to hold the pepper pieces in suspension once the jars have cooled after processing and the mixture jells.
Some readers have noted that it helps the mixture set-up faster by refrigerating - I haven't tried that, I just keep turning the jars until the mixture has set enough to hold the pieces in suspension.