Beth, I have a bread and butter pickle recipe that I use to make all the time a million years ago. I got this recipe back in the 1980's from a lady that my mother knew. I thought it was pretty good and it was easy enough to make. My mother and husband liked these pickles a lot. I thought they were good, but I am a dill pickle person. I will add my recipe to the pickle patch here, so you can look it over to decide either a yay or nay. Bread and Butter Pickles Medium cucumbers ½ onion, sliced 1 clove of garlic, minced ½ cup canning salt 5 cups sugar 3 cups white vinegar 1½ teaspoons Turmeric 1½ teaspoons celery seed 2 Tablespoons mustard seed Cracked ice Wash; slice cucumbers medium thin. Put sliced cukes in a large bowl or crock and add the sliced onion and garlic. Cover completely with crushed ice. Sprinkle with the canning salt on top of the ice. Cover, and let stand overnight at room temperature. The next day, drain the cucumbers in a colander; drain well. In a large stock pot, bring to a rolling boil, the sugar, vinegar, turmeric, celery seed, and mustard seed. Pack cucumbers into sterilized pint or quart jars and cover with hot boiling liquid leaving ½ inch head space. Seal at once. Cool in a draft free place. Store in a cool dark place. This makes approx. 4 quarts, so double recipe as you need.
Here is a recipe for pickling spice mix that @shedon Scott posted several years ago. http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/pickling-spice-mix.12853/
Thanks, Krys. I'm actually making refrigerator pickles in small batches... like a single quart jar at a time. I don't want to "can" pickles but your recipe sounds very good. Thanks!
That seems allot of sugar @Krystal Shay but I’m not saying it’s not right cause we all have different tastes ….I make tomato relish but my tomatoes have not produced as that should the last couple of years .
Yes it is. But if I remember correctly, the vinegar and other ingredients cuts some of the sweetness. I haven't made them in a long time. I have always preferred dill pickles myself. I made the B&B pickles for my mother and my husband and a few other people, whom like sweet pickles.
I made the Refrigerator Bread & Butter Pickles yesterday and they turned out really good. They are a good balance of sweet/sour. This recipe is very similar to @Krystal Shay 's but on a smaller scale and doesn't include garlic. I didn't have any celery seed so I just left that out and the pickles turned out very good; next time I'll use the celery seeds and see if I can tell any difference. Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles Makes about 1 quart of pickles; keeps about a month in the refrigerator Ingredients 5-6 pickling cucumbers, sliced ¼-inch thick (or enough to fill a quart Mason jar) 1½ tablespoons kosher salt 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup white vinegar ½ cup apple cider vinegar ¼ cup light brown sugar 1½ teaspoons mustard seeds ½ teaspoon celery seeds 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric Instructions Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1½ hours. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers. Place onions and cucumbers into a sterilized glass jar. Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber/onion mixture in the jar; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Make sure the cucumber slices are all submerged in the brine, using a weight if necessary. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 1 month.
I made the Bread & Butter pickles again, this time using the celery seed. For some reason I like the pickles better without it. They are still good, though.