I’m not a big fan of pickled things. That puckering sour, vinegar flavor isn’t one that I particularly enjoy, and I’ve been known to methodically extract all evidence of pickled carrots from my banh mis and run away from anyone who even tries to put relish on my hot dogs. Those monsters.

But there is one big exception to my pickle aversion: pickled peppers. I feel like the vinegar in pickled peppers helps make them a sweeter and the heat more tolerable, and pickled peppers sliced reeeeally thin make a great accent to rich, fatty foods (like the aforementioned hot dogs). In this case, I pickled some jalapenos just to use in my Texas-style kolaches.

Make these about a month out from when you’ll want to use them, though these have been sitting in my fridge for three months and are still plenty happy. Also, I usually throw in whatever fresh herbs I happen to have around, which means a sprig of rosemary here and some garlic chives there, though I’ve kept it out of the recipe for you. Just know that’s an option! I’ve also used white vinegar instead of white wine vinegar before and they still came out delicious.

Side note: be careful when you’re boiling the vinegar. The smell and fumes is that of pure evil, and accidentally getting a big lungful of it will shorten your lifespan. I’m not certain that’s true, but it sure feels true.