This simply Homemade Organic Elderberry Syrup will become a staple in your medicine cabinet. I have heard for years about this goodness and finally got around to making my own. After looking up the price of elderberries compared to buying a 15 oz bottle I quickly realized it was MUCH cheaper to make than to buy. I am all about that budget life during this season! 🙂 Get ready for your home to smell of berries and rich spices as you whip this up. Can I just say, that George loves this stuff!! He seriously would take triple doses if I gave it to him! I got my basic recipe from the Wellness Mama and then incorporated a few of my own ingredients. Let’s get started.
First, you will need to purchase organic dried elderberries to begin. I found this great bag off of Amazon and it will easily make 4 batches of syrup. I combined the elderberries, purified water (this is the water distiller we use) and cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla and ginger in a medium size pot. Bring these ingredients to a boil and then allow the syrup to cook on simmer for 1 hour.
After the syrup has cooked for one hour, allow to cool. Using a spoon crush the elderberries. Next pour the elderberry mixture through a strainer into a glass or jar. Once it is cooled enough add your raw honey to the mixture. Make sure to stir until it is incorporated. I then transferred my syrup into these 16 oz glass bottles to store it in. It made enough for 1 1/2 bottles. That’s it. You are now ready to tackle your first making of homemade organic elderberry syrup.
From what I have read 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp. is good for children and Chris and I have been taking 1 tbsp. each day. The taste is great and it would definitely be a tasty syrup topper on pancakes or waffles. We may be coming to the end of winter (hopefully soon! ) but with all the traveling we will be doing over the next few months, I plan on taking this year round. 🙂 This syrup stays good in the fridge for 2 weeks. You can also freeze the syrup in an ice cube tray and pull it out when needed.
I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for stopping by!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup dried black elderberries (about 3 ounces)
- 3 1/2 cups of purified/distilled water
- 2 Tablespoons fresh or dried ginger root (I chopped my ginger root up into chunks)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves or clove powder
- 1 teaspoon of tumeric (I added this!)
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (I added this!)
- 1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer's market)
Instructions
- Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla and cloves (do not add honey!)
- Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
- Discard the elderberries and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
- When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a quart sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
- Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties.
- Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.
