I love dandelions! When the girls were small, we used to call dandelions “Wishing Flowers,” when they were white, and we would make chains, bracelets, necklaces, and crowns out of them when they were golden. Even now that the girls are a little older, where some people see weeds, I see tiny golden puffs of sunshine just beginning to peek their heads out of the brown wintertime grass. What a welcome sign that springtime is here! (Ok, just stay out of my garden, you Wishing Flowers!) LOL! 😉
Last spring, the girls and I tried something we hadn’t ever done before… we picked dandelions from our yard, and turned them into the yummy, deliciousness of sweet dandelion jelly. If you’ve never done this before, it’s pretty easy and makes you feel like Crunchy Granola Earthy Herbal Woman who uses “weeds” to sustain her family. LOL! It’s so much fun! And thank the honeybees for this one, dandelion jelly tastes just like honey! Pure sunshine!
It’s not a weed, it’s a wish, a hope, a dream. A splash of color on your lawn turned into a beautiful bouquet held tightly in the chubby fist of a little one presented to you out of pure love. May you look past the weeds in your life and realize the beauty and sweetness they often hide.
Chickadee's Dandelion Jelly
Makes a beautiful, golden jelly with a light flavor of honey.
Ingredients
- 100 (roughly 2 cups) Dandelion blossoms No stems!
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups white sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 box pectin
Instructions
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Using kitchen shears, trim the green portions off the dandelion flowers. Place the remaining petals into a quart-sized canning jar. Make sure not to include any of the stem portions, or this might incorporate a bitter flavor to your jelly.
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Pour 4 cups of boiling hot water over the dandelion petals. Allow them to cool, and then place the jar in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This will be your dandelion tea.
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Strain the petals out from the tea. Squeeze them well to remove as much tea as possible from the blossom remnants.
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Pour the tea into a large saucepan. Add the lemon juice and pectin. Bring it to a boil.
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Add the sugar, and return the tea to a boil. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved, or 1-2 minutes.
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Remove from heat, and carefully pour into your canning jars. Boil jars for ten minutes in water bath to seal if canning, if not canning, put jars immediately in the fridge for use as desired.
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Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This recipe can also be used with clover flowers, violets, lilacs, or lavender. Each provides a slightly different flavor and a beautiful color. I especially love the color of violet jelly!
Also, it probably goes without saying, but please make sure that the blossoms you pick are from an area that has not been sprayed by any pesticides or chemicals. Organic really is best in this case! 😉
The Chickadee Nest is a place where we share peace. We talk home, family and time management, educational ideas, recipes and encouragement, faith, personal stories, gardening fun, bargains and anything along those lines. I hope to help inspire and equip you to be intentional in life — to find that peace at home we are all striving for.
Hi Chickadee! I need a picture of what you mean by “trim the green parts” Does the whole thing fall apart?
Yes, you’ll be left with petals.