The winter season is always difficult, with the viruses and germs galore. It seems like at least weekly, we have an event cancelled because someone has gotten sick. And while we thankfully tend to avoid most of these illnesses, we still work proactively to keep ourselves healthy.
It’s easy to take our health for granted, until we get sick. We’re especially careful since we’re dealing with autoimmune issues and Lyme disease. This year is different though – let’s beat the flu with homemade elderberry syrup and gummies!
We took a cruise for my 30th birthday. I was looking forward to it for over 6 months. We hadn’t been on a cruise since we had gotten engaged over 6 years prior, so I figured that a cruise was overdue. We got up early in the morning to drive down to Charleston and hop on the ship.
As we were driving out of our neighborhood, my 4 year old said those dreaded words… “mommy, my tummy hurts.” Uh oh. We endured 4 days of the stomach bug beginning with him, and ending with my husband. It was awful, and the first time in a long time that our family had been really sick.
I realized how much I had been slacking on boosting our immunity, so since then I’ve been working our home remedies into our daily routines again.
Elderberry has so many amazing benefits. It’s known as an antiviral berry, and helps with cold and flu relief. It has also been known to lower blood sugar, prevent cancer, and improve the look of your skin. It is full of vitamins and minerals, can help your gut digest foods easier, reduces inflammation, and improves respiratory and heart health.
On top of all that, it is so incredibly easy to make. And y’all know that I don’t make anything that even looks too complicated. I judge what recipes I will try based almost entirely on how many ingredients they have. And yes, I know, I’m probably missing out on a ton of great recipes, but it just gives me anxiety to think about cooking complicated things. I can’t do it! Trust me, if I can make this homemade elderberry syrup, then anybody can do it.
Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Homemade Elderberry Syrup & Gummies
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup dried elderberries
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 cup raw honey
Instructions
- Add elderberries, water and cinnamon in a pot, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer until liquid reduces by half. About 45 minutes.
- Strain elderberries from the liquid, smashing the berries to get everything.
- Drain liquid into large glass bottle, and add honey.
- Seal, shake to combine, and refrigerate.
Notes
- 1 cup elderberry syrup
- ½ cup hot water
- ¼ cup Gelatin powder
- Silicone molds
This is honestly one of the easiest recipes that I make, and I love that I can store this homemade elderberry syrup in the fridge for a couple of weeks. We definitely go through it this time of year, but it’s such a fantastic way to keep the family healthy. We take 1 tbsp once per day for maintenance doses, and when we are sick, we take 1 tbsp 4-5 times per day.
Have you made elderberry gummies before?
Chelse says
We have fresh elderberries. Do we need to do anything different to use those instead of dried?
Stefani says
I haven’t used fresh before, but I don’t believe you need to do anything differently!
Tracie Haley says
i want to add additional liquid based vitamin zinc adn d3 in the gumies should i do anything different with the recipe?
Stefani says
That will be hard to measure, I’d think. Those are vitamins that need specific doses and you have no way of ensuring each gummy gets the right amount if you mix it all together. I would personally just stick to taking the zinc and d3 separately so you know for sure what dose you’re getting
Dani says
What is the shelf life for these?
Stefani says
They’ll usually last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. If I know I won’t use it in that time, I will freeze the syrup into ice cubes and use them in smoothies.