Cinnamon Candy Christmas Pickles is one of those Southern recipes that you will adore because your Grandma always made them or you will cock your head a little and say, "What in the world?". They are sweet with the infused flavor of melted cinnamon candies and so crisp they snap when you break them.
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Let me say upfront, this is NOT a shortcut recipe. Most of my recipes are Southern with a shortcut but I have a few recipes on the blog that are worth a little more effort. I made these using the recipe from TasteOfSouthern.com. All images and text are my own.
If you've ever had Watermelon Pickles, these will remind you of those with a little "bite" from cinnamon red hots. My Grandma Wilson, originally from Iowa, made Watermelon Pickles and I loved them.
So, when I had these for the first time last summer in Florida at a Camo Dreams fishing trip dinner for my son, it transported me back immediately to Grandma's pickles. I couldn't figure out if they were watermelon rinds, cucumbers, or even apples because they were so crisp and sweet.
The hostess kindly told me her mother always makes them with the overgrown cucumbers that were too big to use for regular pickles. The pickling lime and alum used in this recipe makes them incredibly crisp, so crisp that they snap when you break them!
I was hooked! I almost embarrassed myself by going back for seconds and thirds. I researched recipes on the internet all the way home that weekend. I discovered they are often called Christmas Pickles because of the vibrant red color and served during the holidays.
They are also called Cinnamon Pickles for the obvious reason Red Hot cinnamon candies are used to make a syrup the cukes are steeped in-twice. I call them Cinnamon Candy Christmas Pickles so you can tell right away they aren't made with ground cinnamon.
I made them as soon as I could find a recipe that looked reliable. I was grateful to find a step-by-step recipe with lots of pictures and I'm sharing it here . Taste of Southern, Southern Cooking Recipes, Photo Illustrated Recipes does a great job with their step by step pics. They call them Cinnamon Pickles. I took all the photos you see on my blog and used their recipe.
If you're like me, you won't be able to wait until Christmas to enjoy a jar of these beautiful pickles.
Click here for the link to the Taste of Southern illustrated recipe.
If you like pickles, try my Shortcut Sweet Heat Shortcut Pickles and Vidalia Onions.
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I love it when you mention your mother and grandmother! Keep up the good work!!
Aww. Thank you. It's really hard not to mention them when I cook. Their food, especially my mom's, is ingrained in me along with the memories made while cooking with her as a teenager.
I make these every year with over grown zucchini. I let them get huge. It is a lot of work... So worth it. Was really happy to see this recipe come up on the feed. It's definitely an oldey but a goody!
They are more effort thsn my typical shortcut recipes for sure. Did you mean over grown cucumbers or do you use zucchini? I'm fascinated with how the zucchini works, if so. Let me know here in the comments. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Kathelene, This is Shirley Jones from Florida. I am sending the recipe to my Mom to see have close they are. And I like the shape of the pickles in your picture. Hope you and your family are doing well. Hi to Grayson from Jeff and I and Captain Harris.
So great to hear from you! I'm glad you like the pickles and thank you so much for inspiring me to make them.
Oh my goodness! I need to try these!
They are not one of my shortcut recipes but sooooo worth the effort!
Hi!! I can only find pickling lime online. Locally, I can only find Pickle Crisp Granules. It’s still calcium chloride but you don’t have to do the whole soaking and rinsing thing. Do you know how this would work with this recipe! I REALLY want to try out this recipe!!
Glad to hear you want to make these colorful and flavorful pickles! I did a little research and Pickle Fresh is Calcium Chloride and Pickling Lime is calcium hydroxide so it is not the same at all. I do not want to recommend any changes to this recipe as I am not a chemist nor have I made the pickles with anything but the recipe as TasteOfSouthern.com has written in the link I give on the post. Their recipe also has alum in it which may aid in this unique pickle texture and crispness. I would love to know if Pickle Fresh works to avoid all the rinsing. Please let me know if you try it.