Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles

Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles

I am a big fan of homemade bread and butter pickles. I make several batches every year. Friends and family really like them, too. I get requests, every year, for these Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles.

While you should follow recipes for pickles carefully- those amounts of vinegar, salt, sugar etc., all are important for safety and a good end product, you can play around with seasonings a little.

In this case, I just add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar for the spicy version.  Just enough of a kick. You might want to add a little more or less, according to your taste.

So here is the recipe for classic Bread and Butter Pickles- with the variation for Spiced included.

Bread and Butter Pickles*

6 quarts thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
6 medium onions, peeled and sliced thin
½ c. pickling salt
1½ quarts vinegar
4½ c. sugar
½ c. whole mustard seed
1 T. Pickling spice
1 T. celery seeds
Wash cucumbers and trim off ends before slicing. Place in non-reactive bowl
(stainless steel, enamel, plastic) add the onions and then salt and stir. Allow cucumbers and onions to sit in the salt for 3 hours. After 3 hours drain well, but do not rinse. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add cucumbers and onions and return to the boil. As soon as the mixture is boiling ladle into clean, hot pints jars, leaving a good ½ -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids firmly. Place in boiling water bath and process  for 10 minutes. Remove to counter and allow to cool naturally. Makes 12 pints.
* For Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar just before filling.

Note: These need a couple of weeks for the flavors to develop. They can also be made with firm, small zucchini.
Source: Putting Food By