What is Cowboy Candy?
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What is cowboy candy? If you’ve never had this epic topping, you are missing out. Essentially candied jalapeño’s, they add a tangy-hot-sweet exclamation point to sandwiches, hamburgers, salads, ribs, and the always popular charcuterie boards. They can add a kick to a margarita or spice up pizza. Traeger’s recipe for Candied Jalapeños, starts with smoking the chiles first which adds a pleasant smokiness. And they're featured in our epic Cowboy Candy Ribs.
What is Cowboy Candy?
One origin story of the candied jalapeños goes back to 1922. And, as the name implies Texas, the home of WHH Ranch Company, the self-proclaimed oldest family-run cannery in the Lone Star State. As the story goes, when the grandmother of the current generation was just a young girl, she tried pickling sliced chiles the same way she did sliced cucumbers for bread & butter pickles, layering them between sugar and spices. The family started calling her creation cowboy candy and the name stuck.
Cowboy Candy Ingredients
Though the original recipe is more like a pickle, many versions today have a more jammy feel. Our version begins with smoking the jalapeño slices, then tossing them in a syrup made from brown sugar, apricot preserves, apple cider vinegar, garlic cloves, and black pepper.
Sliced (but not seeded) jalapeños are the star. While other ingredients include sugar, vinegar, and spices.
Make sure to copy and paste these ingredients into your grocery list for later:
- Jalapeños
- Light Brown Sugar
- Apricot Preserves
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Minced Garlic Cloves
How To Make Cowboy Candy (Candied Jalapeños)
Slice the jalapeños thin, but not too thin. When making jalapeno candy, you want to slice the chile thinly but not too thinly; as it cooks in the hot syrup, it softens considerably. About ¼-inch round slices should do**.** And in our recipe, the slices get smoked first for a hit of wood-fired flavor, which also softens them. Slices too thin, the peppers can dissolve into mush; but sliced this way they retain some welcome texture.
Smoke the peppers first. Smoking the sliced peppers briefly on the Traeger adds welcome wood-fired notes. Consider using mesquite or hickory pellets for the most flavor.
Stir together your sugar, vinegar, and seasonings.
Be sure the sugar is dissolved in the syrup. Make sure the syrup has cooled long enough for the sugar to melt or it will feel grainy. But be careful—the syrup is hot so if you plan to taste it, you must let the taste cool down first.
Combine ingredients by adding your jalapeños until they're coated evenly, and let simmer for about 4-5 minutes until the syrup has darkened.
Store candied jalapeños into jars so that you can use them for months to come.
How to Serve Cowboy Candy
As mentioned earlier a favorite way to use these sticky chiles and their sweet and spicy syrup is to toss sliced smoked ribs with them (and some bacon because everything is better with bacon).
These jammy chiles are also delicious paired with smoked cream cheese and they make an amazing condiment: try them on burgers, hot dogs, or pulled pork sandwiches.
You can also experiment with the original recipe by adding different ingredients like with cranberry cowboy candy. With cranberries added a bit of tartness, these holiday candied jalapeños can replace your cranberry sauce at the holiday table from pairing with your Thanksgiving Turkey to adding on a leftover turkey sandwich in place of the cranberry sauce.
How to Store Cowboy Candy
If you are a practiced canner, you can go ahead and can cowboy candy. However, you can also transfer it to a heatproof container, let it cool, then cover and refrigerate it for up to 2 months. Put in pretty jars, it makes a great gift, too.
Candied Jalapeños (Cowboy Candy)
by Nichole Dailey
Prep Time
5 Min
Cook Time
25 Min
Serves
12
Pellets
Hickory
Meet your new favorite condiment. Sweet, sticky, and spicy, candied jalapeños (aka cowboy candy) transforms the ordinary into extraordinary. Top your next cheeseburger or hot dog with some for an epic bite. We also love it dolloped on a brick of smoked cream cheese for the easiest of apps, and it’s a great addition to a Bloody Mary. But maybe the best use for them is our Cowboy Candy Ribs, which tosses tender smoked ribs with the jalapeños and crisped bacon. (Look for the recipe on our site.) This makes 3 cups and will last, covered in the fridge, for a couple of months, so you’re bound to find many great uses for it.
Ingredients
main
| 10 | jalapeños |
| 1 1/2 Cup | light brown sugar |
| 1 Cup | apricot preserves |
| 1/4 Cup | apple cider vinegar |
| 2 | garlic cloves, minced |
| 1/2 Teaspoon | freshly ground black pepper |
1
Preheat the Traeger with the lid closed to 225°F; this will take about 15 minutes.
2
Slice the jalapeños into ¼-inch thick rings and spread them out on a wire rack. Place the rack directly on the grill grate and smoke for 25 minutes.
3
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, preserves, vinegar, garlic, and black pepper.
4
Transfer the smoked jalapeños to the saucepan, then place the pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat so that the mixture is simmering, until syrupy and thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof container. You can use the cowboy candy right away. Cover and refrigerate what you don’t use; it will keep for up to 2 months. Enjoy!
