Elderberries are full of antioxidants and vitamins. They can stimulate your immune system to prevent or speed up recover from cold and flu symptoms.
Elderberry syrup is very easy to make with only few ingredients. Store bought syrups can be expensive and making your own comes with a quality guarantee for a fraction of the price 🙂
Homemade Elderberry Syrup:
Ingredients:
2 cups dried elderberries
4 cups water
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tbs fresh or dried ginger
1 cup honey
Directions:
In a saucepan combine all ingredients besides honey.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
Turn the heat off and let it steep to lukewarm (so the heat doesn’t hurt the nutrients in the honey, but warm enough to stir it in).
Pour through a strainer into a glass bowl.
Stir the honey in.
Transfer to glass bottles.
Store in the fridge.
Dosage: a teaspoon or two every day during a cold season; double when a cold or flu is present.
Notes:
Honey is not only a great source of antioxidants, has antibacterial and anti fungal properties, but also increases shelf life of the syrup.
The syrup is not to be given to infants under age one.
This recipe is easily decreased or multiplied depending on your needs.