jalapeno pepper freezer jelly

Ingredients
2/3 cup jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped (or more if more spice is preferred)*
2-1/2 cups bottled apple juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 drop green or red food coloring
5-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
3/4 cup water
1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin

RINSE clean plastic containers and lids in boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
MEASURE exactly 2/3 cup prepared peppers into large bowl. Add apple juice, vinegar and food coloring; mix well. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.
MIX water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
FILL all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. (This filled up 8 of those small plastic containers with the purple screw on lids fyi) Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Peppers may float to the top....the will eventually settle...don't worry about it! Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. (The recipe claims that it could take up to 1 week to set...) Jelly is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

*Remember, leaving the seeds and ribs will cause the flavor to be much hotter...I took the seeds and ribs out of at least 1/2 the peppers I used and my jelly still had plenty of ZING...but wasnt painful to eat!


****PS-This recipe didn't work for me the first time I made it....but I THINK I screwed it up in that I may have jostled it too much just after I poured it into the jars. If your jelly stays syrupy here is how to redo HALF of the recipe:
Pour 4 containers of thawed unset pepper jelly into a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3 more chopped peppers. Mix well and let sit for at least 5 minutes. In a saucepan mix 3/4 cup water with pectin and bring to a boil. Stir constantly at a rolling boil for 1 minute. Add to pepper mixture and stir 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Pour into clean containers (it took 5 of the same containers this time) and allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours. (This time it set IMMEDIATELY!!)


**My favorite way to eat this is poured over a block of cream cheese served with crackers as an appetizer! YUM!!