I am also diabetic. I used the same brine from the standard no sugar sweet pickles, but used the spices fromm the bread and butter recipe from So Easy to Preserve/ Univ. of Georgia site. Salt is not necessary for preserving the pickles, just for flavor.

So this is what I did, use the vinegar, water, Splenda and salt from this recipe : THEN used the spices from the second recipe, just replacing them for the ones in this recipe. I did NOT soak in the salt first. They are really good sugar free bread and butter pickles. If you don't want the salt, then you can omit it all together. I did not worry about it since I figured it was dispersed through all the jars, so it wasn't that much per jar. I processed my pint and half pint jars for 10 min.

How do I? ...Pickles for Special Diets
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Preparing and Canning Pickles for Special Diets
No-Sugar Added Sweet Cucumber Slices
3� pounds of pickling cucumbers
boiling water to cover sliced cucumbers
4 cups cider vinegar (5%)
3 cups Splenda�
1 tablespoon canning salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon whole allspice
1 tablespoon celery seed
4 one-inch cinnamon sticks
Yield: About 4 or 5 pint jars.

Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure:

1. Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions.

2. Wash cucumbers. Slice 1/16th-inch off the blossom ends and discard. Slice cucumbers into �-inch thick slices. Pour boiling water over the cucumber slices and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Drain off the hot water and pour cold water over the cucumbers. Let cold water run continuously over the cucumber slices, or change water frequently until cucumbers are cooled. Drain slices well.

3. Mix vinegar, 1 cup water, Splenda� and all spices in a 10-quart Dutch oven or stockpot. Bring to a boil. Add drained cucumber slices carefully to the boiling liquid. Return to a boil.

4. Place one cinnamon stick in each jar, if desired. With a slotted spoon, fill hot pickle slices into clean, hot pint jars, leaving �-inch headspace. Cover with boiling hot pickling brine, leaving �-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids.

Bread-and-Butter Pickles
6 lbs of 4- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
8 cups thinly sliced onions (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
4 cups vinegar (5 percent)
4-1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp mustard seed
1-1/2 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 cup pickling lime (optional- for use in variation below for making firmer pickles)
Yield: About 8 pints

Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard. Cut into 3/16-inch slices. Combine cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Add salt. Cover with 2 inches crushed or cubed ice. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, adding more ice as needed.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large pot. Boil 10 minutes. Drain and add cucumbers and onions and slowly reheat to boiling. Fill jars with slices and cooking syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recom-mendations in for more information see Table 1 or use low-temperature pasteurization treatment. The following treatment results in a better product texture but must be carefully managed to avoid possible spoilage. Place jars in a canner filled half way with warm (120� to 140�F) water. Then, add hot water to a level 1 inch above jars. Heat the water enough to maintain 180 to 185�F water temperature for 30 minutes. Check with a candy or jelly thermometer to be certain that the water temperature is at least 180�F during the entire 30 minutes. Temperatures higher than 185�F may cause unnecessary softening of pickles.

Variation for firmer pickles: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard. Cut into 3/16-inch slices. Mix 1 cup pickling lime and 1/2 cup salt to 1 gallon water in a 2- to 3-gallon crock or enamelware container. Avoid inhaling lime dust while mixing the lime-water solution. Soak cucumber slices in lime water for 12 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from lime solution, rinse, and resoak 1 hour in fresh cold water. Repeat the rinsing and soaking steps two more times. Handle carefully, as slices will be brittle. Drain well.

Storage: After processing and cooling, jars should be stored 4 to 5 weeks to develop ideal flavor.

Variation: Squash bread-and-butter pickles. Substitute slender (1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter) zucchini or yellow summer squash for cucumbers.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Bread-and-Butter Pickles in a boiling-water canner.
Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft
Hot Pints or Quarts 10 min 15 20

Thank You so much for the info and recipe's. I'm going to try them, I've been using the one in Ball Blue Book.. Husband is doing the happy dance.. he loves B&B Pickles.. He can eat a pint in one sitting.. lol