I have had issues with cucumbers recently.  It’s strange because I used to dislike them but lately I can’t get enough.  My body must be deficient in cucumber vitamins.  🙂  When I saw a box of organic cucumbers for sale at the farmer’s market I grabbed it.  Don’t worry, I paid for it first.

What’s a girl to do with a box of cucumbers but make pickles.  All of the refrigerator pickle recipes I had called for white sugar.  I haven’t had white sugar in the kitchen for some time.  I wondered, could I use sucanat?  I didn’t think that would work since it has a maple like flavor.  I was also afraid it would make the pickle juice an unappetizing brown color.

Then I wondered if I could use honey.  I did some searching online and found two recipes.  The first one seemed to be a simple and classic refrigerator pickle recipe with a few healthy adaptations.  The second recipe was like nothing I had seen before.  Pickles in lemon juice instead of vinegar.  Cloves, really?

I couldn’t help myself.  I tried them both. 

This honey sweetened refrigerator pickle recipe is a great basic recipe with the traditional taste you expect from refridgerator pickles.  There is a nice balance of salty, sweet and sour.  Next time I make them I might throw in some garlic or dill for fun.

Honey Sweetened Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients:

• 3 Large Cucumbers, sliced thin
• 1 Medium Onion, sliced thin
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Celery Seed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions:

1. Gently mix cucumbers, onion, salt and celery seed in a large bowl.
2. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.  (I may or may not have eaten half the bowl of salted cukes before the hour was up.)
3. Stir honey and vinegar in a small bowl until honey is dissolved.  Pour over cucumber mixture.
4. Mix well.  Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
5. Pickles will keep 3 weeks or more in the refrigerator.

And the second recipe?  You can find it here.

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