Here's How To Control The Heat In Your Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

Homemade jellies can transform your everyday snacking options from plain to rich in layered flavor. Whether paired with cheese and crackers or glazing on top of roasted vegetables, a jalapeño pepper jelly can really bring the heat. The succulent combination of sweet and spicy is an irresistible pairing that can elevate many snacks and dishes. But how do you make sure you achieve this perfect balance of flavor, ensuring the jalapeño doesn't overwhelm the jelly with too much heat?

The hottest component of a jalapeño is the seeds. If you want only a mild amount of heat, make sure to remove most if not all of the seeds before pureeing the jalapeño with the rest of your jelly ingredients. This includes the ribs of the jalapeño as well. On the contrary, if you like a big burst of spice in your pepper jelly, include the ribs and seeds. The more seeds you leave intact, the hotter the jelly will be.

Before you begin excavating the seeds and ribs of your jalapeños, it's important to practice safe handling measures. Wear gloves if you can, and be sure not to touch your face after handling the jalapeños before you have a chance to wash your hands. Other essential ingredients to making jalapeño pepper jelly are liquid pectin, sugar, and cider vinegar. The liquid pectin is used as a thickening agent to help give the jelly that chunky, marmalade-like consistency.

As for the other ingredients, you can combine them with your jelly, go for sweet fruits that can mellow out the spiciness of the peppers, like in a homemade apricot-jalapeño jelly. Dried apricots work great here, as they hold a bright sweetness while maintaining a slightly tart flavor as well, perfectly contrasting the hot jalapeños. Other popular choices include chopped apples or crushed cranberries to help add the sweet and tart flavor, while cranberries aid in both flavor and color.

Jalapeño pepper jelly pairs wonderfully with cool cream cheese slathered on top of a cracker. The rich cheese soothes the sweet heat of the jelly, creating a delectable creamy bite. Pepper jelly also pairs fabulously with other fresh cheeses, like brie or camembert.

If you're looking to make other exciting appetizers, think beyond the cheese and crackers. Jalapeño pepper jelly makes a perfect sweet and spicy glaze for meatballs. You might be used to enjoying meatballs in a tomato sauce, but the lip-smacking pepper jelly is a surprisingly spicy choice, elevating the savory meatballs to new dimensions of flavor. Use mini meatballs and serve them with toothpicks, allowing guests to enjoy the individual sweet-and-spicy bites.

While there are many varieties of hot pepper jams and jellies, jalapeño pepper jelly can bring a spicy Tex-Mex flair. It also works great slathered on a fluffy burger bun — a great alternative to one-note mayonnaise. Even a simple buttermilk biscuit is elevated by the subtle heat and cooling sweetness of the jelly. Just as noted earlier, you can adjust the jelly's heat level based on your spice preference, removing as many or as few seeds from the jalapeños as you'd like.