Not to brag, but I think I have made the world’s best pickles. Actually, I will brag. I just made the world’s best pickles.
Anyone who knows me will know that I decide I want to make something, look up a vauge description of it, then make it how I think that it needs to be made.
My biggest problem with homemade pickles is how they are never crunchy enough for me. I looked up many hacks on how to keep them crispy, and settled on trying to add bay leafs to the recipe. Let me tell you, it worked.
My other biggest problem with pickles is that store bought pickles never have enough garlic cloves with them.
I have also decided refrigerator pickles are the way to go for me. I like that they are quick and easy, and I don’t have to go through the canning process. They also are ready to eat in just a few days. When refrigerating the pickles, they will be good for up to two months, if not longer. I promise if you make these, they will not make it that long anyways.
When I made my pickles, I used pickling cucumbers that were long and skinny. You can use other cucumbers, but I wanted them to be long and skinny. I also used honey instead of sugar. The sugar balances out the flavor, but I worried that they would make the pickles too sweet. The honey was a perfect way to balance the flavors while not making them TOO sweet.
With the recipe I had enough garlic to pickle a whole jar of garlic. I added some carrots to it to try it out this time.
So… onto the recipe.
Refrigerator Pickle Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes || Pickling time: 3-4 days
Ingredients:
15-20 pickling cucumbers
Fresh dill
3-6 bay leafs
A whole bunch of garlic cloves
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp salt
3/4 cup white vinegar
red pepper flakes
minced garlic
Clean jars well, dry them and put them aside
Cut the tops and bottoms off of the cucumbers. You can cut them how you like, I chose spears.
Chop up the dill to release the flavors more, then put it on the bottom of the jar. Add seasonings such as minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Place chopped cucumbers into the jar at the same time as the garlic, make sure everything is packed in tight. Add the bay leafs (3 in a jar) into the sides of the jars.
Heat up the water, vinegar, salt and honey into a pan and heat just until the mixture is dissolved. You don’t have to bring it to a boil.
Warm your jars under warm water so that the hot mixture doesn’t crack your jar. You can double the wet mixture if there isn’t enough to fit in your jars.
Let cool to room temperature then place the jars in the fridge
Let the pickles sit in the fridge for 3-4 days, then they are ready to eat!!!