Easy Recipe: Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños
Easy Recipe: Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños
Hey sweet-heat lovers – want to flair up your sandwiches and burgers? Maybe that cheese dip, those tacos or enchiladas? Even a salad or soup?
Change the way you approach some of your everyday foods. Impress your friends, family, and your own taste buds with this quick, fun and fulfilling recipe! In this guide, I will show you an easy way to create this incredible delicacy.
What you’ll learn:
- Why we did it
- What you’ll need
- How to do it
- TLDR recipe and directions
Cowboy Candy, aka Candied Jalapeños: Why we did it.
Some call them candied jalapeños, some call them cowboy candy, but here at my house, we called them f*ing delicious.
It started in our basement, where we noticed our massive jalapeño plant needed to be harvested.
This single plant produced about 40 peppers, and we needed something to do with all of it. So, we decided to use it for this recipe.
Candied jalapeños are quick and easy to make, have a long shelf life, and can be used for so many dishes, making it the perfect recipe for all these peppers we had.
Stuff ’em into your sandwiches. Chop ’em up into some baked beans. Sprinkle ‘em into your soup. Pair ‘em with some wine and cheese. Add ‘em into any mexican or latin food you’re eating. Garnish a grilled cheese. Throw em’ into some BBQ or even brush the syrup on some meats on the grill. Believe it or not, they can even be used in some desserts. The opportunities are endless! This tangy treat can be added to just about anything.
Enough rambling. Here’s how to do it.
Ingredients for Making Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños:
First and foremost, you’ll need some sliced jalapeños.
To make this recipe it’s absolute best, I’d suggest growing your own.
If you’re anything like me, you live in an urban city and don’t have the space for an outdoor garden. But I promise you, not only is it more than possible for you to grow – it’s easy! This is why we started Garden Labs – a simple online store and YouTube channel dedicated to spreading the long-collected knowledge we have acquired, while providing only products that are tested and used by us. Join us! It’s fun and healthy, and we’re here for you every step of the way.
Back to the recipe.
In addition to the peppers, we will use plain sugar, apple cider vinegar, pumpkin spice, and turmeric. (Not only is this recipe tasty, it’s got benefits!)
Last but not least, you’ll need a thermometer handy, a strainer, and some jars for storing.
How to Make Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños:
We’ll start by adding 3 cups of sugar, and a cup and a half of apple cider vinegar to a pot. That’s a ratio of 2 to 1, sugar to vinegar.
Let’s turn on the heat, and begin melting the sugar.
I’ll be using a thermometer to ensure the temperature stays below 240°. If you go above 240°, the sugar will harden too much to use.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the sugar/vinegar mixture is at a rolling boil. Temps are around 200°.
And it’s time to add our peppers.
At first, it will look like you have too many peppers, but they quickly shrink.
We will also add a tablespoon of pumpkin spice, a teaspoon of turmeric, and an optional pinch of salt.
Bring the mixture back to a boil and cook the peppers for about five minutes until you see the skin of the pepper start to shrivel.
At this point, the recipe is finished, and your whole house should smell wonderful!
Now, let’s set out some jars and start filling them with the peppers.
Once filled we can then top off the jars with the sauce. Wipe the rim of the glass with a towel and screw the lid on only slightly tight.
These will be ready to eat within an hour after making and can be stored in the fridge indefinitely, however, we find they are long gone before the next batch of peppers arrives.
From a mere seed, to 40 raw peppers, to six jars of culinary bliss, the story of this one pepper plant has been quite exceptional.
We highly recommend you watch our YouTube videos on how we grew this plant. But for now, let’s pop open this jar and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Candy jalapeños are an excellent addition to any charcuterie board and the sauce is a perfect glaze for meats, especially my favorite, bacon.
Here’s a fun video to help you make your own:
If you’re looking for more recipes, I suggest this one on Kale Chips.
Thank you for hanging out, and never stop growing!
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TLDR – Recipe and Directions:
Easy Recipe: Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños
Ingredients:
40 – Jalapeno Peppers (sliced)
3 Cups – Granulated Sugar
1.5 Cups – Apple Cider Vinegar
1 TBSP – Pumpkin Spice Seasoning
1 Teaspoon – Turmeric
A pinch – Salt
Supplies:
Jars
Pot
Thermometer
Strainer
Measuring spoons
Directions:
1. Melt sugar and vinegar together in a large pot.
2. Once boiling, add all other ingredients.
3. Bring back to boil and cook for about 5 minutes
4. While still hot, add peppers to jars, then top with remaining sauce. Wipe the rim of the jar with a towel and screw the lid on only slightly tight and seal.
5. After 1 hour, cowboy candy is ready to eat. Store in the fridge.
Easy Recipe: Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapeños