Thankfully, there are some delicious ways to support your immune system and help to alleviate colds and flu. Think elderberry syrup, or herbal infused honey.
This isn’t medicine, y’all, this is real food that nourishes your body and helps it to fight colds and flu and stay healthy (and it’s yummy on ice cream, too).
And with herbal honey you’re also getting the anti-bacterial properties of the raw honey.
Herbal infused honey couldn’t be easier to make. I use elderberries we’ve foraged and dehydrated. Or you can purchase dried wildcrafted elderberries here.
The method for making elderberry infused honey, or any other herbal infused honey is exactly the same.
Herbal Infused Honey
Before we get to the simple recipe for elderberry honey, here are a few other ideas for making herbal infused honey:
If you’re having trouble sleeping, infuse your honey with hops or lavender.
For a natural antihistamine, use dried pine needles.
To help fight inflammation, use dried turmeric root.
To soothe a cough, try sage.
Using Dehydrated Elderberries in Honey
Since dehydrated elderberries are not cooked, some question whether it is safe to use them in this manner. There is even a bit of controversy over this question in the herbal world.
The elderberry toxins are in the stems and seeds, so it is essential to remove all stems before dehydrating your berries, and of course the berries are strained out before consuming the honey, so no seeds are consumed.
Many herbalists have used elderberries for years in this manner, but if you are concerned, then certainly only use your berries in a way that they are cooked.
More Posts You’ll Love
Natural Home Remedies for Your Medicine Cabinet
Book Review: Everything Elderberry
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dried elderberries or whatever dried herbs you'd like to use
- 1 cinnamon stick optional
- 2/3 cups raw honey
Instructions
- Place the elderberries and the cinnamon stick in a 1 cup mason jar.
- Pour the raw honey over the berries and cinnamon. Stir together.
- Place the lid tightly on the jar and allow the jar to sit in a warm spot for at least a week. Turn the jar over once a day.
- Place your jar in hot water (not over 110°) to soften the honey, and then strain to remove the elderberries and cinnamon. Enjoy over ice cream, in tea, or even in salad dressing.
Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Shauna says
Thank you so much for all your helpful ideas! I always learn a lot of awesome things !
Susan Vinskofski says
I really appreciate that, Shauna. Thanks for stopping by!
Janice says
How long will this keep?
Susan Vinskofski says
Elderberry syrup will keep up to months in the refrigerator, Janice. Thanks for stopping by!
Jennifer says
Here is a great question: Say I take a whole jar of raw honey, my favorite locally is Star Thistle, how much elderberries for this size jar, and does it matter if they are dried? I have a 4oz bottle of buckwheat honey, so i took a couple of pinches of Elderberry I use for tea and broth; enough to cover the top of the honey….look forward to your answer.
Susan Vinskofski says
The recipe does call for dried elderberry. If you have 1/2 cup of honey, you would only need 1/4 cup of elderberries.
Donna says
Can I use fresh or frozen blueberries or must it be dried because of the moisture?
Donna says
That was supposed to say elder berries but my computer keeps “correcting” it to blueberries, sorry!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Donna! You are risking mold if you use fresh berries, so I’m sorry to say the berries need to be dried. Thank you for stopping by.
Jaime says
I would love to know this answer as well!!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Jaime, I’m not quite sure which answer you would like to know. Are you wondering about using fresh berries? If so, you are risking mold if you use fresh berries, so I’m sorry to say the berries need to be dried.
Brenda says
Do I have to actually remove the dried elderberries from the honey? I thought I had read somewhere that you can actually leave them in. Thank you in advance.
Susan Vinskofski says
Brenda, I do recommend removing the berries since they can cause digestive upset in some people.
Alice says
Have you ever tried this with freeze dried elderberries?
Freeze dried fruits have less moisture than dehydrated fruit but they have more fresh flavor. I would guess that the freeze dried elderberries would absorb more honey than dehydrated berries but the berries could be sucked on and spat out when the sweetness is gone.
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Alice, no, I’m sorry to say that I have no experience at all with freeze dried fruit. Do you know of a source of freeze dried elderberries?
Krista says
So I made this last summer, however I didn’t just add cinnamon. I threw in some ginger, dried lemon peel, rosehips, whole cloves, star anise and extra cinnamon. Then a few more sticks. And when I strained it.. i added back the cinnamon, cloves, and anise. My fiance has quite possibly the worst immune system on the planet. We’ve kicked colds and bugs all winter long with it. He now takes “The Goop” without being told. “I’m a believer” he says.
At the first sign of a cold or raw throat, he takes a spoonful. I have him rotate. The next hour, I have him eat a pickled garlic. The next hour, the honey again. For about 18h til he feels all better.
We will never go without a jar of Goop in our house ever again.
Thank you!!
Susan Vinskofski says
That’s awesome; I love that you call it the goop!!!
Jamie says
Hi! Thank you so much for this! Do you know if a honey extraction actually pulls out all of the medicinal qualities like alcohol or a heat bath? Just curious if I am receiving the same benefits. Thanks so much!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Jamie, my understanding is that honey pulls alkaloids and nutrients from a plant’s cells. I believe that alcohol will generally extract more of the plants constituents, but keep in mind that honey is also medicinal and not everyone wishes to consume alcohol.
Jamie says
Perfect! Thank you!
Janice Yeagle says
I like this idea, but I have never dried my elderberries. Is it an easy project? I like my elderberries to make a tea with honey. Have you dried them? Did you dry with the stems on and then pulled the berries off? Just curious I would like to try this in the future. Thanks!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Janice, I have a dehydrator and so yes, drying the berries is very easy. You could dry them in an oven at very low heat, too. I first remove the berries from the stems. As long as the berries are ripe, they pop off quite easily.
Jessica says
I was always told that berries can be toxic unless they are heated or simmered. By extracting them through the honey is it safe to consume?
Susan Vinskofski says
Great question, Jessica. There is a bit of controversy over this question in the herbal world. The toxins are in the stems and seeds, so it is essential to remove all stems before dehydrating your berries, and of course the berries are strained out before consuming the honey, so no seeds are consumed. Many herbalists have used elderberries for years in this manner, but if you are concerned, then certainly only use your berries in a way that they are cooked.
Robyn Murphy says
Is there a different benefit to doing it this method rather than cooking it?
Just for general knowledge.
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Robyn, by not cooking, you get the benefit of raw honey. 🙂 https://learningandyearning.com/recipes-that-use-raw-honey
W Sargent says
Is it really necessary to strain out the berries?
Cheek says
The beauty of dried elderberries is that they aren’t cooked which preserves what I suspect is the most important part – namely, the microbes that are attracted to them. Elderberries are covered in probiotics from the environment. Personally, I suspect that this is the benefit of “bitter” plants with regard to infection. The “good guy” microbes seem attracted to them. I cringe when I see people cooking and washing elderberries. Elderberries and probiotics are pretty much married, in the wild. You could probably make cheese by simply dropping some freshly picked elderberries in milk and otherwise ferment with the stems, like they do with pepper stems in India. And with regard to “cyanide” – it’s not cyanide, per se. Cyanide is actually a trace nutrient that a body needs but the “cyanide” association with elderberries is laetrile and simply living among and handling elderberry bushes without gloves, it will be inhaled and distributed throughout your own environment by simply touching things and the microbes associated with the berries will be everywhere from in the air to in whatever honey is being produced in the area.
Elderberries are little, tiny miracles. Or, at least, that’s my suspicion, as an explorer of reality rather than an explorer of human opinion – which seems to be man’s way. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but it’s a really, REALLY slow motion forward. And sometimes even backward.
Susan Vinskofski says
Thank you, Cheek!
if you says
You’re welcome, Susan. I failed to mention that, historically – and perhaps even prehistorically – elderberry seems to have only been used as medicine and I suspect there’s a very good reason for that. I would not consider it “food”. I wouldn’t hesitate to chew on a few fresh, if I was feeling unwell, but no more than that. And primarily for the probiotics. For instance, if I had cancer, I might take a little syrup everyday but would utilize the cancer protocol for rebounding – i.e. 2 minutes every hour – to hike my own “probiotics” – i.e. white blood cells – which are greatly increased by rebounding. 15 or even up to 30 times. Not percent but TIMES. It’s like a SUPER shot of “antibiotics” that only attack the unwanted microbes.
And, of course, when the timer would go off for rebounding, I would drink 4 ounces of water because I probably wouldn’t be sick, in the first place, if I was properly hydrated. 4 ounces every waking hour would equal 8 cups for the day. Plus, if you set the timer and drink your water, even if you don’t rebound, you won’t have to worry about it. Which is good, because I don’t think about such things if I’m busy so, when the timer goes off, I simply reset it knowing I’m good to go. Plus, I drink too much coffee when I’m busy which makes it extra relevant, LOL! And the good news is – no more chicken neck!!!
Julie says
Is it usually best to do outside or inside. If outside, in Arizona approaching summer do you know what temperature would be too hot for this process, if any? Thanks! (just purchased elderberries, looking forward to trying this!)
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Julie, I would stick to inside. Enjoy!
Jessica says
Hi I hope you get my comment even though this post seems to be a year old I was wondering what if I took my dried elderberries and cook them with water on the stove to soften them back up and then strained that liquid out and then added that liquid to my honey? I think that would be good I was wanting to maybe add that elderberry honey to my moonshine or hot tea and add a little lemon during the winter time PS I’m also a beekeeper so I have a lot of honey!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Jessica! Once you add a liquid to honey, the honey will begin to ferment, so I don’t think that is what you are looking for. Is there some reason that you don’t want to just add the dried elderberries and then later strain?
chantalle says
What can I do with the elderberries after straining out of the honey?
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Chantalle, I generally compost my berries. You could probably get a nice cup of tea out of them first if you desired.
Chantalle St Germain says
what can be done with the elderberries after they have been strained out of the honey? Can you eat them too??
Susan Vinskofski says
I recommend composting the elderberries after straining; the seeds may cause digestive upset if you eat them.