Mary, This recipe doesn’t include sugar in the brine, but you can absolutely add it if you’d like a sweeter flavor. It’s perfectly safe to do so. I’d suggest adding about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sugar to the brine along with the other ingredients. Feel free to adjust the amount to suit your taste.

Thanks for catching that, Michelle. It should be 8 teaspoons dried dill seeds, 2 teaspoons per jar.

Is there an error in the recipe? Because if it makes 4 pints, 2 teaspoons of dill seed in each jar means it’s 8 teaspoons altogether, which is not 1/4 cup. What do you do with the leftover dill? Or should it be 3 teaspoons of dill seed for four jars?

Debra, Yes, they should still retain a bit of crispiness. It depends on the type of beans you use and how fresh they are. However, if you want super crunchy dilly beans, consider storing the jars in the refrigerator instead of processing them in the water bath canner.