Cranberry Pepper Jelly
This easy cranberry pepper jelly can be made with fresh or frozen cranberries, making it a naturally-red pepper jelly recipe. It's perfect for enjoying as a slightly spicy jam with biscuits, an appetizer over cream cheese or brie, or a food gift for friends at Christmas.
Servings: 7 cups total
Calories: 1tablespoon
Equipment
- Half pint jars (Recipe makes almost 7 cups)
- 21 quart stock pot (for water bath canning)
Ingredients
- 2 cups seeded and coarsely chopped jalapeno peppers (8 large or about 10-12 ounces)
- 1 (12 ounce) package of fresh or frozen cranberries (about 2 ½ cups when chopped)
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar (5 % acidity)
- 1 cup water
- 1 1.75-ounce box Sure-Jell powdered pectin (Original) *See note about liquid pectin
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
- Wearing kitchen gloves, remove stems and seeds from jalapeno peppers. Coarsely chop the peppers with a knife or pulse in a food processor in batches.
- Coarsely chop the cranberries. I use the food processor for the cranberries, too!
- Combine peppers, cranberries, sugar, vinegar and 1 cup water in a large pan no smaller than 6- to 8-quarts. (Once it boils, it can boil over, so keep a close watch on it.) Bring to a boil, gently stirring occasionally. Boil at a rolling boil for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, stir together powdered pectin and water. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. (Try to time this so it is ready when the cranberry mixture has boiled 5 minutes.)
- Stir the cooked pectin mixture into the cranberry mixture. Bring to a boil and boil 1 full minute.
- Remove the cranberry-pepper mixture from the heat and skim off any foam that may appear. Sometimes, I’ll skim off the cranberry seeds that rise to the top.
- Fill jars with hot jelly mixture. Wipe rims of jars clean. Seal lids with jar rings.
For Refrigerator or Freezer Jelly
- Let stand 24 hours to cool and completely set up. Jelly is ready to eat as soon as it sets up. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freezer up to 1 year. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight, not on the countertop.
For Shelf Stable Jelly (Water Bath Canning Method)
- Place a canning rack or small round cookie cooling rack in the bottom of the very large pot. Bring the water up to a boil, covered. Lower the jars slowly into the boiling water with a canning jar lifter. They grip the jars much better than regular tongs.
- There should be 1 inch of water above the jars.
- Place the lid on the pot to bring it back to a boil faster. Once boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes for half pint jars and 10 minutes for pint jars.
- Remove the jars carefully with canning tongs. They grip the jars much better than regular tongs. Place jars on a kitchen towel to cool and set up completely.
- You will know the jars have sealed when you hear a distinct pop and the lid is flat, not raised on top. Wait at least 24 hours up to 2 days for the jelly to completely set.
- Yield: almost 7 cups
Notes
Yield: This recipe makes almost 7 cups. This will vary with amount of jalapeno peppers and cranberries you use. The recipe will work with slightly less peppers and cranberries if that is all you have!
Water Bath: You can put this jelly in any size canning jar, but if canning with a water bath, be sure to do a 10 minute water bath for pints and half pints. Quarter pints (½ cup) can have a 5 minute water bath.)
NOTE: Certo liquid pectin can also be used: Instead of boiling a (1.75-ounce) box of powdered pectin and water together for 1 minute, just stir in one (3-ounce) pouch of liquid pectin to the cranberry mixture after it has boiled 5 minutes. Bring the mixture back to a boil and boil for 1 minute before pouring into the jars. The liquid pectin saves a step but costs a little more.
Substitutions and Variations:
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- If you aren’t fond of ANY heat at all, you can substitute red or green bell peppers for the jalapenos to make a sweet pepper jelly.
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- If you want MORE heat to make hot cranberry pepper jelly, trade out equal amount of serrano peppers. For even more heat, don’t seed the peppers or use 2 habanero or datil peppers.
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- Apple and Cranberry Jam- Omit the peppers (or leave them in) and substitute apple juice for the 1 cup of water.
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- Cranberry Jelly- Omit the peppers altogether and you have a Cranberry Jelly or Cranberry Jam recipe!
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- Pecan Pepper Jelly- I'm always looking for ways to add pecans to my recipes and was thrilled to see pecans in a store-bought pepper jelly recently. Just stir in ½ cup chopped pecans when you add the pectin.
