Hot Pepper Mustard Recipe

My friend Jo Ann got me hooked on her hot pepper mustard. I honestly craved it after the jar she gave me was gone. I searched in stores but found nothing quite like it. So this year I planted sweet banana peppers so I could make it myself. I wanted mine a bit milder than Jo Ann's so I figured I could make it with my sweet peppers then add some hot sauce--that way I could control the zing. 

The peppers, however, pulled a fast one on me. Apparently some of them were hot banana peppers! I didn't expect that so I didn't wear gloves when I cut them up. Wowee, my hands had a tingle when I was done. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad because burns from peppers can actually be like burns from a fire. I remember once when I was young I cut up chili peppers without gloves and ended up in the emergency room. So now, I will wear gloves with any pepper except the bell peppers, just to be on the safe side.

But the pepper mustard came out delicious, hot, spicy and perfect for pretzels, tortilla chips, on sandwiches--you name it. I bet it would be good mixed into deviled eggs too. 

Here's the recipe I used:

Hot Pepper Mustard

INGREDIENTS:

40 banana peppers (5 inches long), stems and seeds removed. Apparently I had a couple hot ones in the mix! Be sure to wear plastic gloves, just in case you get some hot ones or want to add hot ones to yours. 

4 cups prepared yellow mustard (1 quart)

5 cups white sugar (it seems like a lot, but you’re going to end up with a lot of mustard, and you don’t usually eat much at any one time)

1 cup honey

4 cups apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 cup warm water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove the seeds from the banana peppers and place the peppers into a blender or food processor. (I cut mine into smaller pieces to speed up the process) Process until smooth. 

2. Pour into a large pot and stir in the mustard, sugar, honey, apple cider vinegar , salt and flour. Stir it frequently--with all that sugar and honey, it could stick and burn.

3. Bring to a hard rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.

4. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. 

5. Pour into sterile pint jars and seal with new lids and rings. 

6. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your altitude.

I ended up with 13 pints of sauce, plenty to last us all winter. I didn't count how many peppers I used, so maybe I used more or less than the recipe called for. 

The peppers are still producing so I see another batch in my future. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.