Dandelion Honey

[jcam222]

I have had several posts show up on my Facebook page lately about using dandelions as food. From young greens in salad to frying the battered flowers. Today I happened across several posts on making dandelion honey. The people making it were doing so as they were vegan. Not vegan here but it set off a lightbulb in my head that perhaps I could keto up the process and make a sugar free honey. The idea overall sounded crazy but with plenty of time to spare today and dandelions a plenty it was time to give it a go.

Ingredients

• About 100 medium to large dandelion flours (about 3.5 oz. by weight)
• 1 lbs of jicama cubed (I used this to sub in for apples, jicama is very low in carbs but has a hint of sweet apple flavor to so I thought it would work well)
• 4 cups of water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 to 3.5 cups of sugar substitute (depends on yield of extract water)
• pinch of salt

First it was time to go out in the sun and find some dandelions. My hard had just been mowed so I went out to our local reservoir. There were dandelions aplenty so it was not long until I had a big quart zip lock bag stuffed. These were nice big sticky dandelions with a lot of pollen on them staining my hands. These are the ones you want. Just pick the flower and the little green section below it.

Here are the rest of the ingredients. I used a blend of about 2/3 allulose and 1/3 golden monk fruit sweetener. If you aren't doing sugar free you could use a blend of light brown cane sugar and regular sugar.

Several recipes I found called for trimming all of the green from the bottom of the blossom , boiling a few minutes and steeping overnight. This one said it was find to leave the green part on and no need to steep overnight. Add the water, lemon juice, dandelion flowers and pinch of salt and boil for 20 to 30 minutes. It looks pretty disgusting at this stage lol but on I went.

After about 25 minutes I strained out the jicama and dandelion flowers. Press them out really good to get all the goodness. This is when you determine how much sweetener to use. I went by volume. I had about 2 1/2 cups of liquid so I added 2 1/2 cups of the sweetener which i ended up bumping up by about another 1/4 cup. I simmered for about an hour and then bumped it to a gentle boil. You stir it at first to dissolve sweetener initially but then quit stirring for the duration. Too much stirring will cause crystallization. You are working to reduce by about 1/3 or so. You check readiness by putting a plate in the frig and getting it nice and cold. When you drizzle a spoonful on there it comes up to room temp quickly. When that is at the consistency you want you are done. Pour hot into jars and let cool.

Ok so I had no real belief that this would taste much like honey. I thought best case it would be edible and just like a sweet syrup. This stuff is definitely flavored like honey!! It gets a beautiful medium amber color and is rich and floral. I think the jicama did give it the slightest hint of apple as well. This may just be the keto millionaire idea LOL. I will be making a LOT more for friends and as gifts for sure. My neighbors wont need to spray for dandelions I will be picking them all.

Thanks for looking and reading through this strange adventure :)

 

[TNJAKE]

Very cool. We pick dandelions.....batter and fry. It's a thing. Pretty tasty as well

 

[Winterrider]

Sounds very interesting. . .

 

[Bearcarver]

Jcam222
I never had Dandelion Honey, except that maybe the bees around here have been visiting my Dandelions.

I have had Dandelion Wine that my Great Grandfather used to make, but he died when I was in Vietnam, in 1969.

However if you do eat the young Greens that you mentioned in post #1, You should try my "Pennsylvania Hot Bacon Dressing". Below is a Step by Step on how to make it.
I like it on a Lettuce & Tomato Salad even more than on Dandelion Greens.

Here's a link:
Hot Bacon Dressing (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Bear

 

[jcam222]

Very cool. We pick dandelions.....batter and fry. It's a thing. Pretty tasty as well

I’m trying that next Jake. People say it tastes like fried shrooms.

 

[jcam222]

Jcam222
I never had Dandelion Honey, except that maybe the bees around here have been visiting my Dandelions.

I have had Dandelion Wine that my Great Grandfather used to make, but he died when I was in Vietnam, in 1969.

However if you do eat the young Greens that you mentioned in post #1, You should try my "Pennsylvania Hot Bacon Dressing". Below is a Step by Step on how to make it.
I like it on a Lettuce & Tomato Salad even more than on Dandelion Greens.

Here's a link:
Hot Bacon Dressing (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Bear

I’ll have to give that a try!!

 

[TNJAKE]

I’m trying that next Jake. People say it tastes like fried shrooms.

Yep that was my thinking

 

[Sowsage]

We use to batter and fry them as well and yes i always thought they tasted similar to mushrooms... Have not done it in a while because I usually treat the yard now soooooo...probably not a good idea lol. That honey looks pretty good! I could see it tasting lime honey from all the pollen. Nice job!

 

[tx smoker]

Jeff...the honey looks real good. We use a little around here but only a small drizzle on a biscuit, a jar lasts a long time Looks like the time you put into that was well worth it, and I bet it was a fun little project to delve into. Great job sir!!

Robert

 

[smokerjim]

Looks good, never had it, had lots of dandelion wine in my younger days though .

 

[xray]

Jeff that looks delicious! Didn’t even know there was such a thing as dandelion honey. I knew folks that made wine.

No shortage of dandelions here, I could always mail you some, freshly picked from my yard.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

This stuff tasty. Amazing how taste like honey. Pretty much did exactly like you did. Thanks!

 

[jcam222]

This stuff tasty. Amazing how taste like honey. Pretty much did exactly like you did. Thanks! If I was a younger guy I’d go all in commercializing this.

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Good job!! Yep it is a dead ringer for honey. You are simply taking the pollen and sweetening it instead of the bees. The less you agitate the jars the slower it will crystallize. It will though. Just heat and storm when it does.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Our Distillery makes this drink called Iced Toddy that is so good. Now I can make them again. Any good whiskey will work.

 

[Winterrider]

I used a blend of about 2/3 allulose and 1/3 golden monk fruit sweet

Is there a specific reason why the blend or is it ok to use all of one or the other? Is that basically same as Stevia ? Have never used sweetners so unsure.

Edit: I see your post in other thread from Brian about the Stevia. Still be ok to just use 1 or the other of your original or recommend splitting?

 

[jcam222]

Is there a specific reason why the blend or is it ok to use all of one or the other? Is that basically same as Stevia ? Have never used sweetners so unsure.

Edit: I see your post in other thread from Brian about the Stevia. Still be ok to just use 1 or the other of your original or recommend splitting?

If I were to use one over the other I’d likely go with the Allulose. The Golden Lakanto has a more brown sugar flavor to it. I think either way you will end up with a good homey clone.

 

[Winterrider]

Thanks Jeff, appreciate the reply.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Getting ready to make a batch from dandelions in freezer. I wish I would of packed them better but was planning on using a lot sooner. Need some to make my pecans. Will have to give that creamed a shot.

 

[bauchjw]

Wow, that is incredibly cool. No dandelions here for a while, but once spring hits this is bookmarked. Thank you for sharing!

 

[jcam222]

Getting ready to make a batch from dandelions in freezer. I wish I would of packed them better but was planning on using a lot sooner. Need some to make my pecans. Will have to give that creamed a shot.

Man I wish I had the forethought to freeze some! This year I am going to harvest a ton, make a lot more honey and freeze plenty of blossoms. Looking forward to seeing how well your frozen blossoms work.