Unfortunately, cold and flu season is here! Those pesky little germs seem to be hanging around everywhere and there is never any hand sanitizer around when needed! We know that hand washing with soap while reciting the A, B, Cs is the single most effective way to stop the spread of germs, but if one of those nasty buggers gets you, we have a little something extra that will help. Now bear in mind we are not doctors, but there seems to be overwhelming evidence that Elderberry Syrup is great for reducing the length and severity of mild colds and the flu and is immune-boosting to boot!
While you can buy elderberry syrups at health food stores and major retailers, making your own does have significant cost savings. And let’s be honest–who doesn’t like to save a few dollars!?! In less than one hour, you’ll have made a natural syrup to help you and your family battle cold and flu season!
The first step is to purchase the elderberries for your syrup. This recipe uses dried berries that we purchased from Amazon. Once you have your berries, the process for making the elderberry syrup is quite simple. Begin by bringing the berries, water and spices to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 40 minutes, reducing the liquid by half. Remove berries from heat. Over a bowl, drain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer.
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Super simple so far, right?
Using the back of a wooden spoon, squeeze all the liquid from the berries. You’ll want to get every last bit of immune-boosting juice from those little guys. Cool the liquid to room temperature and stir in the raw local honey. Adding honey to the syrup adds sweetness as well as additional medicinal elements. Using raw local honey helps strengthen immunity to allergies and may help reduce those unpleasant allergy symptoms.
Finally, pour the syrup into a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in the refrigerator.
For health maintenance, take one teaspoon of syrup every day. If you are fighting a cold or flu symptoms, take 3-4 teaspoons spread out throughout the day.
If you have questions or concerns if Elderberry Syrup is right for you, speak to your health care professional beforehand. Also, this recipe contains raw honey, so it is not safe for children under the age of one to consume.
UPDATE! Homemade Gummies
If you have children who are not fond of taking the liquid, gummies are a great way to give them elderberry syrup. Depending on the size of your molds, 1-3 gummies taken every day will work just as well as the liquid dose. (Please check with your pediatrician for correct dosage before giving elderberry gummies or syrup to your child.)
- 1 cup Elderberry Syrup
- 4 packs gelatin ( 4 tbsp.)
- 2/3 cup hot water
Make the simple elderberry syrup as instructed below. Add 1/4 cup cooled syrup to a bowl. Whisk in gelatin until it completely dissolves. Add the hot water and stir well. Stir in the remaining elderberry syrup. Place molds on a baking sheet for support. Carefully pour the mixture into each mold filling to the top. If you have a small dropper, this works really well. Place the baking sheet with the molds in the refrigerator for 1 hour, to set. After one hour, pop the gummies out of the molds. Place the gummies in a glass container with a lid and store for up to 2 months.
Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried elderberries
- 3 cups purified water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger root
- 1/2 cup raw local honey
- Optional ingredients cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, orange and lemon zest
Instructions
- Place elderberries, water, cinnamon stick, and ginger root in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30- 40 minutes until the water has been reduced by half and mixture is thick.
- Remove from heat.
- Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour elderberry mixture into strainer.
- Using the back of a wooden spoon, press the berries in the stainer to extract all of the juice.
- Discard the remaining pulp left in strainer.
- Let juice cool.
- Stir in honey until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer juice to glass jar with a lid and keep stored in the refrigerator. Elderberry syrup can be kept stored in the refrigerator for several months.
