(Brookline, MA) Author Ree Drummond signs her cookbook at Brookline Wordsmith on Thursday, March 15, 2012. Staff Photo by Matt Stone (Photo by Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Food - News

The Intense Snack The Pioneer Woman Calls 'Cowboy Candy'
By GRACE LYRA SIMMONS
In August 2022, celebrity chef Ree Drummond posted a recipe for Cowboy Candy on Instagram that uses just four ingredients, involves minimal prep, and adds an intense zing to any dish. However, Cowboy Candy isn't technically a candy, but a spicy, sweet, juicy, and sour condiment that can replace your favorite hot sauce.
This classic southern recipe originated in Texas 100 years ago when 7-year-old Mindie Heironimus created it at WHH Ranch in St. Augustine, Texas in 1922. While working on her family ranch and making and canning bread and butter pickles, Mindie pickled the jalapeños that were overflowing their garden by placing the peppers in containers with sugar and spices.
The Heironimus family called the creation Cowboy Candy, a name that still holds to this day. Drummond’s recipe for Candy uses a technique like quick pickling, with a higher sugar concentration, where instead of pouring brine over the jalapeños as they’re about to boil, the recipe instructs reducing the pickling liquid further so it thickens and reduces into a sweet, flavorful syrup.