Pickles are one of the things I’ve never been successful with making. I’ve tried dozens of recipes through the years. Friends have sent me their tried and true recipes, which I make and they never turn out great for me. I feel like I’m following the recipe . . I can follow a recipe! 🙂
For probably 30 years or more, these have been my favorite pickles and while they definitely are NOT homemade, they work for us.
I simply buy a big jar of whole dill pickles and I’ve found this to be one of the times that a name brand works better than an off brand; drain the pickles but save the brine. Slice the pickles any thickness you like. Put the pickles back in the jar. Add sugar. I usually add about 1-1/2 cups sugar per 32 oz jar.
I also add jalapeno peppers. Those can be sliced or if you don’t want to eat them but just want to add a bit of spice, just cut the peppers in half and add them. Per 32 oz. jar, I’ll usually add 6 or 8 jalapeno peppers.
Pour pickle juice (that was drained from the pickles) over the sliced pickles. You will need to shake the jar several times a day for a few days til the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, put the sliced pickles in smaller jars and refrigerate.
These pickles will become super crunchy. We love them and I’ve given up trying to make pickles otherwise. I have no idea how long they last in the fridge. At our house, 2 quarts and a pint will last a couple of months.
Yes, there is a lot of sugar in these. I tell myself . . at least we aren’t drinking the juice but if you’ve ever made sweet pickles, you know a lot of sugar goes into them. If sugar is a health concern for you . . don’t make them but the sweet pickles we buy in the store probably have just as much sugar, which doesn’t make it ok, but sometimes adding 2 cups of sugar seems like so much but not knowing how much sugar goes into making something, makes it seem better.
Otis Sisk says
Several year ago, I made these pickles using g Splenda instead of sugar. The best I remember, they turned out just fine.
Joyce says
My grandma made the best sweet pickles. I could eat a whole jar by myself… Even she had years where they were not as good though, and she didn’t know why either.
Donna in KS says
What do you end with? What my Mother called half and half pickles? She loved them; I didn’t! You go on to mention sweet pickles. Surely these don’t turn into sweet. Are they something like bread and butter pickles?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
No. They are 100% sweet and crunchy!