This dandelion flower jelly tastes like honey, it is sunshine in a jar! The taste is not overly sweet it’s just enough to give your taste buds a much welcome springtime treat after a long cold winter. What better way to welcome the first flowers of spring than to make this jelly.
Harvesting your flowers
Pick your flowers on a sunny day after the dew has dried. Wet or damp flowers won’t work, they just make a sticky mess. Pick your dandelions where you know they have not been sprayed. I have had quite a few interesting conversations with our neighbors, curious as to why I am picking dandelion flowers!
Harvest at least 10 cups of dandelion blossoms, just blossoms no stems as the stems are bitter. I pack the blossoms loosely in a large measuring cup, dumping them in my gathering basket until I have 10 cups.
The first step in making the jelly is making a dandelion tea.
Dandelion tea
Back in my kitchen I pulled the blossoms off the flower bases making sure there was no green parts. I put the petals in a large bowl (see picture above). This is time consuming I won’t lie but the end result is so worth it!
You need to have 4 cups petals. Once you have all the blossoms separated from the bases, pour boiling water over the blossoms and cover with a lid or towel. Let this sit until room temperature or overnight if possible. When this has brewed you will have a dark yellow dandelion tea. I let my tea sit overnight like I do my herbal infusions. I think the flavor is enhanced more by the overnight infusion.
Strain the dandelion tea through a coffee filter or piece of muslin cloth to remove all petals. Squeeze the liquid out of the muslin or filter and compost the flowers. Add additional water if needed to measure 3 cups of liquid for your recipe.
Now it’s time to make your jelly!
Following is a list of equipment you will want to have set up before you start making your jelly.
Equipment:
- water bath canner
- canning jars
- canning lids and rings
- jar lifter and canning funnel
- large pot
- large spoon
- soup ladle
- towels and dish cloths
Make sure your jelly jars, lids and rings are sterilized and kept hot. Fill your water bath canner 2/3 full of water and begin heating the water as you make your jelly.
Dandelion jelly recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups dandelion tea
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 box powdered pectin
Directions
- Add dandelion tea, lemon juice and pectin into a large saucepan.
- Bring to a boil stirring often.
- Add sugar and bring back to a boil. Continue boiling 1-2 minutes. Stirring often.
- Remove from heat and fill jars.
Ladle hot jelly into hot jelly jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Or use pints or 1/2 pints. I used jelly jars because there is just my husband and I. But if you have kids at home…. 🙂
Process for
- 10 minutes if you are below 6000 ft elevation.
- 15 minutes if you are above 6000 ft elevation.
This recipe yielded 6 jelly jars.
This is a great recipe to try especially if this is your first time foraging for wild edibles. Not only can you use the flowers for jelly, they are also good in shortbread cookies and the young leaves are excellent in salads. The entire plant is very useful in herbal medicine and as food.
So are you going to give dandelions a try this year? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to share on social media!
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