Dandelions are bees first food of the year! Now that other flowers are popping up and bees and butterflies have other food sources it’s time to make dandelion jelly!
I claim everyone in our homeschool group as my friend. So my friend Lauren Rebert (Rebert Ranch) shared dandelion jelly and I shared with my 5 year old. He loves picking flowers, and the prospect of getting to pick flowers and make something with them was fascinating to him.
Ingredients
-2-3 cups dandelions
-4 cups boiling water
-1 box fruit pectin
-4 cups sugar
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
Forage for your dandelions, then snip off the green part, use your fingers to remove as much of the green as you can. Separate the dandelion petals if desired. Place dandelion petals in a jar and cover with 4 cups or boiling water. Once the jar is cool to the touch place in the fridge for 24 hours.
After steeping the dandelions to make dandelion tea, drain with a fine mesh strainer, and pour 3 cups of liquid in a pan. If need be add water to make up the difference. Add sugar and lemon juice, bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pectin.
Pour mixture into hot, sterilized jars, cap jars and lower into a hot water bath. Allow to process for 10 minutes then sit for 24 hours or until tops seal. The result is a sweet honey like jelly. Happy foraging!
