Dandelion Honey Recipe

I wasn't going to make dandelion honey this year. I am so behind on everything around here because of our traveling that I have no time for anything but chores these days. But the second kids saw the dandelions all over our yard, they were begging and begging until I gave in...

I had the kids do all the work picking the flower buds.

You will need:

4 cups of dandelion flower buds

1/2 gallon of water

3 cups of granulated sugar

1/2 medium size lemon

Some people use only the yellow part of the flower but my mom and grandma always used the flowers with the green part as well (no stem thou) and the honey turned out great. Place the flowers in water, cover the pot, and boil for about 30 minutes. Then let them sit overnight. 

The next day strain the flowers. The liquid will be close to honey brown.

After you get rid of all the big pieces, put the pot back on the burner, and bring it to boil. Add the sugar and juice from half a lemon.

You will be boiling this mixture on low for about 4 hours. Then let it cool down and check the texture. If you are not happy with it, return it to the burner and boil for longer. This is what I did - I let it cool down and placed it into a fridge for few hours. Honey gets generally more runny when warmed up so you will not be able to tell the real texture when it is hot. 

I like my homemade creations to be in mason jars but you can use any clean glass jar you have available. I boil all my jars before I use it to store food in them. Since I have only 2 jars of honey, I will keep them in the fridge but you could can them and store as you would any canned food.

My kids love dandelion honey on their toast...

Good luck, and share any tips you have about this recipe ;-)