# Dandelion Honey



## jcam222 (May 25, 2020)

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 :)


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## TNJAKE (May 25, 2020)

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


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## Winterrider (May 25, 2020)

Sounds very interesting. . .


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## Bearcarver (May 25, 2020)

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


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## jcam222 (May 25, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> 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.


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## jcam222 (May 25, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> 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.
> ...


I’ll have to give that a try!!


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## TNJAKE (May 25, 2020)

jcam222 said:


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


Yep that was my thinking


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## Sowsage (May 25, 2020)

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!


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## tx smoker (May 26, 2020)

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


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## smokerjim (May 26, 2020)

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


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## xray (May 27, 2020)

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.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Apr 20, 2021)

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


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## jcam222 (Apr 20, 2021)

BrianGSDTexoma said:


> 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.
> 
> View attachment 493415


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.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Apr 20, 2021)

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


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## Winterrider (Apr 23, 2021)

jcam222 said:


> 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?


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## jcam222 (Apr 23, 2021)

Winterrider said:


> 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.


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## Winterrider (Apr 23, 2021)

Thanks Jeff, appreciate the reply.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Jan 13, 2022)

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.


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## bauchjw (Jan 13, 2022)

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


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## jcam222 (Jan 13, 2022)

BrianGSDTexoma said:


> 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.


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## jcam222 (Jan 13, 2022)

bauchjw said:


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


Sure thing.this stuff is truly amazing if you want the actual honey flavor without the sugar.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Jan 13, 2022)

I think I am going to try Asian Pear this time.  They not much more than Jicama .  I know just have to mess with a good recipe!  I finally back on track.  Got brave enough to check BS few days ago all looked good.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Jan 15, 2022)

Well going to have to call this a failure.  I just had the flowers in a sandwich bag and got a bunch of water crystals.  Has a bit of nasty taste to it.  Also could not get a jar to cream.  I ended up with 4 cups which is more than should of had.  Reduced down to 3 than added 2.5 Alluse and 1 Golden Monk reduced by 1/3.  This been a bad week.  Threw out pork butt sausage, pork tenderloin because of too long in freezer.  Made Mississippi chuck yesterday while good could not get to pull.  I afraid to make that cheesecake now.


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