Each summer, I love to visit the Farmer’s Market and purchase local produce. Two years ago, we visited a booth where the vendor had jars of  “cowboy candy”. Curious, I bought a jar. Fuad ate it all in one sitting! I vowed to try to make my own version when I had a chance.

Fast forward to today and I decided to finally give it a try. Here is my recipe and tips for making, AND canning, jars of Cowboy Candy.

Let’s get started:

To start, this recipe is based upon 2lbs of jalapeños. You can adjust your recipe to make it more or less as desired. 
Before you begin, please be sure to have your canning jars clean and ready. Wash your jars thoroughly and COMPLETELY rinse. Submerge them onto a rack in boiling water for 10 minutes as your last step of sanitization. 

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Jalapeno Peppers (I used approx. 2lbs or 1kg) I had around 40-50 jalapenos from the farmer’s market
4 cups of white granulated sugar
2 cups of Apple Cider Vineagar
2 tsps of tumeric powder
2 tsps of ginger powder
3 teaspoons of chili powder
Dash of kosher salt

Instructions:
~Remove stems and cut your jalapenos into thin slices. I didn’t measure but approx. 1/4 inch coin slices worked well.
~Combine all your sugar, vineagar, and spices in a pan. Bring this to a rolling boil and cut the heat to simmer.
~Stir until your sugar dissolves and makes a syrup. Add your pepper slices to the syrup and coat thoroughly.
~Mix them completely and bring to a rolling boil once again.
~Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or until your jalapenos soften and begin to darken in color.
~With a slotted spoon, remove jalapenos from your syrup and place into clean, prepared jars. filling up to 1/2 inch from top. Shake and wiggle jar so peppers settle leaving more room to add as needed.
~Once each jar has been filled, pour the syrup over peppers in each jar. Leave about 1/4 inch from top, being sure all are covered.
~Cover and secure lid. Wipe the outside of jar and lid clean because syrup is STICKY!
~Place your secured jars of peppers into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Jars should pop to insure they have sealed correctly. If your jar lid does not pop, don’t worry! The peppers are still good but storage is best in the fridge and eaten within a few weeks.
~Properly canned jars can be stored in cool dry place for up to a year.

This Cowboy Candy can be served over cream cheese and spread on crackers, over burgers, nachos and more! They are sweet with a punch of heat!

Cook jalapenos in syrup until they darken in color

fill jars with jalapenos. Pack as many as possible into jar.

Cover your jalapenos with syrup and fill to 1/4 inch from top.

Add lids and tighten (finger tight only) before adding them to a boiling water bath.

After 5-7 days your cowboy candy is ready to eat! Perfect over cream cheese as a dip!

Spread it on a cracker for a FABULOUS snack. Sweet and savory with a punch of heat!

Have your favorite person give it a try!

Guaranteed to be a hit!

Thank you so much for giving our recipe a try! We hope our Cowboy Candy is a hit at your home as much as it is at ours! 

Happy Hooking and Cooking!
~Shannon and Fuad