This Pepper Jelly is a cooked jelly made with agave, stevia concentrate, and Pomona’s Universal Pectin. It was adapted by Jo-Ann Monconduit, creator of Jo’s Jellies, from the original Pomona’s Pepper Jelly recipe made with sugar or honey.Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
About peppers: For a hotter jelly, you can increase the diced jalapenos, but be sure to decrease the bell peppers by the same amount. Do not exceed 2 2/3 cups chopped peppers.
About vinegar: It is okay to use any type of vinegar you like as long as it is standardized to 5% acidity. Jo-Ann has made this with both distilled white vinegar and apple cider vinegar. She thinks the apple cider vinegar improves the taste. Please don’t use homemade vinegar as it is not standardized to 5% acidity, which is necessary for safe water bath canning.
About food coloring: Jo-Ann says, “If I were making this only for myself, I wouldn’t add any coloring, but for sale, it looks better green.” If using regular food coloring from the grocery store, add about 5 drops to a batch after the jelly is removed from the heat and stir well. You can vary the amount based on how “green” you want your jelly to look. Start with a few drops, put a tablespoon of jelly onto a white plate and see if you like the color. If using the concentrated food coloring used by professional cake decorators, dip a toothpick into the coloring, add it to the jelly, stir well, check the color on a white plate, and add more color until it’s what you like.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups bell peppers seeded, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup jalapeno peppers seeded, finely chopped
- 2 2/3 cups apple cider vinegar standardized to 5% acidity
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 2 cups agave divided
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
- ½ teaspoon stevia concentrate
- green food coloring optional – see Note
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water. Todo this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box ofPomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Measure prepared peppers and vinegar into sauce pan.
- Cover and bring mixture to a boil. Simmer covered for 5 minutes.
- Measure ½ cup agave into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into agave. Set aside.
- After simmering for 5 minutes, remove pepper and vinegar mixture from the heat.
- Add calcium water to pepper mixture, and mix well.
- Return pepper mixture to the heat and bring to a full boil. Add pectin-agave mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.
- Add remaining 1½ cups of agave and stevia concentrate once pectin is dissolved. Stir well and return to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Add food coloring if using and stir to blend. (See Note below for additional details.)
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks in the refrigerator once opened.
Janis
I would like the stevia only recipe too!
Mae
Do you have a Red Pepper Jelly recipe with hot peppers (including tiny bits of red pepper in the jelly) that uses Stevia only and not Agave? I would appreciate a copy please.
Shelby Collings
Hello Mae,
We sure do! HERE is our other recipe, you can just convert the recipe to use stevia instead of sugar (according to the stevia package conversions).
Happy jamming!