Homemade golden dandelion honey: Easy wildflower “honey”
Deliciously golden dandelion honey is a great alternative to regular honey (good for vegans). With this recipe, foraged dandelions, caster sugar, and a bit of lemon juice, you’ll get perfect citrus notes in your homemade sweet and floral “honey “, the dandelion syrup.
Dandelions are growing everywhere. So much so that they seem to conquer every area in the spring. If you can’t fight them, embrace them. If your yard is dotted with wild dandelions that are considered generally as weeds, go ahead and pick them in your basket to make this honey-like dandelion syrup.
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Foraging dandelions
As a beginner in foraging, the dandelion is one of the easiest things to recognise with its yellow and bright blossom and tooth-like leaves. The entire plant is edible. Leaves can be used in salads and teas. The petals are good for syrups, teas even wine. The root has been used as a coffee substitute, for it has a surprisingly similar taste!
Today, we are using the yellow flower petals for the vegan dandelion honey, which is a perfect replacement for real honey, taste-wise. Just remember nutritionally, dandelion honey is still a syrup – so don’t go overboard with it!
Just make sure that when foraging, you gather them from clean locations, not next to roads or fertilized fields, but in wild-growing meadows and similar places. If you want to extend your foraging, try my stinging nettle pancakes and wood sorrel pesto too!
Tips for making
- Use only the petals and avoid the green parts. Not only will they dim the golden color, but they can give bitter notes on your dandelion honey.
- Gather flowers away from roads and fertilised fields.
- Pick up the dandelions that are in full bloom in the morning of a sunny day, they are at their best then.
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Ingredients you need for dandelion honey
- Fresh dandelion flowers: Use only the yellow petals; avoid the green parts of the dandelion. You can use the whole flower heads, but that might alter the color and bring some bitter notes.
- Water, use fresh water
- Lemon juice
- Caster sugar: The white sugar is best for the bright color and texture. If you want to have more of the honey notes, and you don’t care about the color being darker and dimmer, you can use brown sugar.
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
Tools you may need
- Small saucepan
- Strainer
- Small heatproof bowl or a cup
- Glass jar, about 200 ml, to store the honey
How to make dandelion honey
Step one: Prep the wild dandelion flowers
After gathering the dandelion blossoms, spread them on a newspaper or a tissue in the shade for an hour to let the bugs creep out.
Pull lightly from the tips of the dandelion petals to separate the yellow parts. Avoid the green parts, they’ll affect the color, making it less bright, and they can give some bitter notes to your homemade dandelion honey. They will slightly color your fingers yellow, but it comes off when washing the hands – don’t worry!
Rinse the petals with the sieve under the running water and pour them into a small saucepan.
Step two: Steep the dandelion tea
Measure water and pour it on top of the dandelion petals. The water will barely cover the petals and bring them to a boil. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer covered with a lid for about 10 minutes.
After brewing for 10 minutes, if you want a stronger flavors, you can shut the stove and let the dandelion tea steep for an additional 10 minutes before straining.
Strain the petals off, reserving the dandelion tea in a heatproof bowl or a cup. Rinse the saucepan and set it ready on the stove.
Step three: Make the syrup
Measure the volume of dandelion tea. It should be about 100 ml. To make consistency like runny honey, you should have a generous 1,5 times the volume of liquid, so 160 ml (about 150 grams ) of sugar.
If you have more like dandelion jelly, measure the dandelion honey in volume and pour twice as much sugar: 1 part dandelion tea, 2 parts sugar.
If you want to have dandelion simple syrup, for drinks like iced teas, just measure 1 part dandelion tea, 1 part sugar by volume.
Jam test for the right consistency
Make the jam test: take a spoonful of simmering dandelion honey and put it on the plate, and let it cool down. This goes quicker if you put the plate in the freezer to cool when you start making your dandelion honey. When it’s cooled, you see if it is jammy enough for the consistency to thicken when cooled.
If your honey is too liquid, keep on reducing the water by simmering it longer. If somehow it happens that you realise after storing the honey is already cooled down, that it is way too runny, no panic! You can always reheat it in the saucepan and add more sugar or reduce water by simmering longer, if it didn’t go right the first time, to get the right consistency.
Bring the dandelion honey and sugar to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Remove the saucepan from the stove and stir in the lemon juice. Store in a glass jar.
How to use dandelion honey
You can enjoy dandelion honey in various dishes. Use the dandelion honey the same way as you would use honey or syrup:
- Spread on a toast.
- Drizzle on pancakes and crêpes.
- Mix in salad dressings.
- Dot your ice cream with it.
Storage
Store in a glass jar air tightly in a room temperature for up to six months or even more.
You can find the recipe card below!
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
Dandelion honey (Dandelion syrup)
Deliciously golden dandelion honey is a great alternative to regular honey (good for vegans). With this recipe, foraged dandelions, caster sugar, and a bit of lemon juice, you’ll get perfect citrus notes in your homemade sweet and floral "honey", the dandelion syrup. Check also the options for dandelion simple syrup and dandelion jelly!
Ingredients
- 20 g dandelion petals (about 50-70 flowers)
- 125 ml of water
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Step one: Prep the wild dandelion flowers
After gathering the dandelion blossoms, spread them on a newspaper or a tissue in the shade for an hour to let the bugs creep out.
Pull lightly from the tips of the dandelion petals to separate the yellow parts. Avoid the green parts, they’ll affect the color, making it less bright, and they can give some bitter notes to your homemade dandelion honey.
Rinse the petals with the sieve under the running water and pour them into a small saucepan. - Step two: Steep the dandelion tea
Measure water and pour it on top of the dandelion petals. The water will barely cover the petals and bring them to a boil. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer covered with a lid for about 10 minutes.
After brewing for 10 minutes, if you want a stronger flavors, you can shut the stove and let the dandelion tea steep for an additional 10 minutes before straining.
Strain the petals off, reserving the dandelion tea in a heatproof bowl or a cup. Rinse the saucepan and set it ready on the stove. - Step three: Make the syrup
Measure the volume of dandelion tea. It should be about 100 ml. To make consistency like runny honey, you should have a generous 1,5 times the volume of liquid, so 160 ml (about 150 grams ) of sugar.
Bring the dandelion honey and sugar to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Remove the saucepan from the stove and stir in the lemon juice. Store in a glass jar.
How to use dandelion honey
You can use dandelion honey in various dishes. Use it the same way as you would use honey or syrup:
- Spread on a toast.
- Drizzle on pancakes and crêpes.
- Mix in salad dressings.
- Dot your ice cream with it.
Storage
Store in a glass jar air tightly in a room temperature for up to six months or even more.
Notes
- Check the tips for foraging dandelions in the post above.
- Read more about the ingredients and substitutions in the post.
If you have more like dandelion jelly, measure the dandelion honey in volume and pour twice as much sugar: 1 part dandelion tea, 2 parts sugar.
If you want to have dandelion simple syrup, for drinks like iced teas, just measure 1 part dandelion tea, 1 part sugar by volume.
Jam test for the right consistency
Make the jam test: take a spoonful of simmering dandelion honey and put it on the plate, and let it cool down. This goes quicker if you put the plate in the freezer to cool when you start making your dandelion honey. When it’s cooled, you see if it is jammy enough for the consistency to thicken when cooled. If your honey is too liquid, keep on reducing the water by simmering it longer.
If somehow it happens that you realise after storing the honey is already cooled down, that it is way too runny, no panic! You can always reheat it in the saucepan and add more sugar or reduce water by simmering longer, if it didn’t go right the first time, to get the right consistency.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 59Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 15gProtein: 0g
These calculations are generated automatically by Nutritionix based on the ingredients shown in the recipe. The nutrition information is an estimation and may include errors. All nutritional information presented and written within this site (blueteatile.com) is intended for informational purposes only. The writer is not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline only.
