Bread and Butters are known for their balanced sweetness and this recipe easily replicates that delicious tangy sweetness we all love about them, with cucumbers right from your own garden.

In this recipe you can transform 2-3 pounds of fresh garden cucumbers into delicious Bread and Butter pickles using whole ingredients and skipping any questionable premade pickling mixes.

Here we go over seeds to grow, tools you need, ingredients, and step by step instructions to water bath can these Bread-and-Butter Pickle Chips.

Let’s Dive In

Bread and Butter Pickle Chip Recipe | Water Bath Canning

This recipe is adapted off of an older Ball recipe found in their 2010 canning catalog.

I adapted this recipe to tailor a small batch of just 2-3 pounds of cucumbers so you can use freshly picked cucumbers to make your pickles while using spices that are easily available.

Growing Cucumbers:

Cucumbers are an easy crop to grow but specifically pickling cucumbers tend to do better during canning processes.

Try these in your garden.

Beit Alpha
Boston Pickling
Paris Pickling
Wisconsin 78 SMR

What else to harvest from your garden

Yellow Mustard Seeds
Yellow Onions

Tools You Need:

Water Bath Canner
Wide Mouth Mason Jars & Canning Accessories
Saucepot

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds of freshly picked pickling cucumbers (1 or 2 days old)
1 medium sized yellow or white onion (baseball sized)
2 tablespoons canning salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon pickle crisp

Instructions:

2-3 pounds of cucumbers, plus one onion usually makes 4 pint jars

First is a to clean your cucumbers well, making sure all those prickly parts come off.
Slice your cucumbers and onions thinly. Place into a bowl, sprinkle a generous amount of salt, add several ice cubes, and allow to sit for 2 hours.
After two hours, drain and wash your cucumbers & onions well.
Fill your canner and place on the stove to heat up. Place your jars in hot vinegar water in your sink.
In a medium saucepot, add salt, sugar, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, ginger, ground pepper, and vinegar.
Bring to a boil.
Once at a boil, add your cucumbers and onions. Bring back to boil, allow to boil for 5 minutes.
Bring your jars out of your sink. Place 1/8th teaspoon of pickle crisp in each pint jar.
Pack your hot cucumbers, onions, and liquid into each jar.
Leave 1/4 inch headspace
De-bubble, wipe rims. Carefully lower into your hot water bath canner using your jar lifter.
Water bath can for 10 minutes, per the instructions to your water bath canner.
Allow your canner to cool for 5 minutes before opening the lid.
Carefully extract your jars using a jar lifter.
Allow to cool on your countertop for 24 hours.
Wash you jars with lukewarm soapy water before placing them on your shelf.
Allow pickles to stand on your shelf for 4-6 weeks before trying for best tasting.

That’s It!

I love how these come out just like storebought (perhaps a bit better).

And on a good cucumber harvest, I know I can easily replace my homegrown Bread and Butters with storebought for the year and not miss a thing.

Freshly picked cucumbers work the very best, which is why I adapted this recipe to a small number of cucumbers so you can use a day or two’s worth of picking right away.

Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe if you need to.

Enjoy!