What a Great Idea...Hot Pepper Jelly!

I think it was last week some time or the week before when I saw on another blog a post about Hot Pepper Jelly. I told this to Heidi and she sent me a recipe she found on allrecipes.com. I have a lot of Jalapeno peppers growing in my garden which seem to be the only thing doing well. The recipe seemed simple enough and I had most of the ingredients on hand already.

Hot Pepper Jelly
allrecipes.com

2 1/2 cups finely chopped red bell peppers

1 1/4 cups finely chopped green bell peppers

1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered pectin

5 cups white sugar

1) Sterilize 6 (8 ounce) canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions. Heat water in a hot water canner.

2) Place red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers in a large saucepan over high heat. Mix in vinegar and fruit pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Quickly stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil, and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim off any foam.
3) Quickly ladle jelly into sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly.
4) Place jars in rack, and slowly lower jars into canner. The water should cover the jars completely, and should be hot but not boiling. Bring water to a boil, and process for 5 minutes.

Review: This makes a lot of jelly but let me tell you it is addicting and will go fast. I think this would make a great holiday gift. One thing about the recipe that I am not sure about is the amount of pectin to use. I followed the advise of someone's review and used 2 boxes because they said one box didn't set. When I opened the box of pectin it has a recipe for hot pepper relish in it...that is the same as the recipe above. I am thinking that if you use one box to make the relish it wouldn't set like jelly would set. That recipe also called to use a lot more peppers then the one above. I don't think I would add much more pepper to the recipe because it has the jalapeno taste but without the spice of it...however if you know someone that likes it hot then I think you could even more hot pepper and it will still taste good. This recipe is a keeper!

I served this at the party we had on Saturday and someone put it on top of brie cheese and it was AWESOME!