Yummy Dandelion Honey

Posted on Thursday, May 5, 2016 · 1 Comment

Every year in early May our lawn gets covered in pretty yellow dandelion flowers. We don’t mind them at all and let them grow freely as we realize the benefits of this amazing plant. They are not only essential for bees survival but also good for people. Roots, leaves and flowers have lots of health benefits. Every year we try a new dandelion recipe and dandelion honey is one of my favorites. If you don’t mind using sugar to sweeten your drinks you may want to try this easy dandelion honey recipe.

There are just a few easy steps to how to turn these bright yellow flowers…

… into this yummy and delicious “honey”…

Here is what you’ll need:

about 8 pints (16 cups) of dandelion flowers (about 600 of them). It’s best to pick them in the middle of the day when they’re in full bloom.
7 cups of sugar
three lemons; one diced and the juice from the other two
4 cups of water
several small jelly jars with lids

First spread the flowers on a kitchen cloth to sift through gently to make sure there are no bugs in them. I did find two ants in mine…

Wash and scrub well one lemon and then dice it.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the diced lemon and all the flowers. Simmer for about 20 minutes on low heat, then leave it covered overnight or up to 24 hours.

The next day strain all the liquid and discard the solids. I used a stainless steel sieve and a wooden spoon but cheese cloth would work great, too.

Once you squeeze out as much liquid as possible, add the juice from two lemons and sugar to the strained liquid and slowly bring to a boil stirring often until the sugar dissolves completely. Simmer slowly uncovered on low heat for at least an hour and keep stirring from time to time. After about an hour the syrup should have a nice honey color and consistency but you may keep it on longer if you’d like it thicker.

Wash jelly jars well and sterilize them with boiling water. Pour the hot honey into the jars, tighten the lids and turn the jars upside down. Leave them that way until they cool down. This will help them seal well. Dandelion honey may be stored for a long time in a cool, dark place. I usually have one jar on the counter and the rest stored in a cabinet in our cool basement.

Here are six jars of delicious golden liquid that we’ll be enjoying in our tea (or on pancakes) for months. I love how beautifully they glowed today in the morning sun!