We are heading into the colder months where it’s even more important to aid the immune system. Our area tends to experience very low/poor sunlight for several months during the late fall and winter.
A serious effort is being made this year to focus on whole foods, plenty of rest, and stocking up the ‘medicine cabinet’. You may remember the post from several weeks ago about starting fire cider, an amazing oxymeal that helps boost the immune system. (Make sure to check that blog out here!)
Getting our young boys to take shots of fire cider is a lost cause. (It’s called fire cider for a reason!) So another immune booster is elderberry syrup. I make sure to keep elderberry syrup on hand for our family all year round. They love taking it! It’s requested frequently – begged for, even.
Make sure to check out how awesome elderberry is!
I have had several friends with children less willing to take the sweet and slightly spicy syrup. I’ve heard elderberry gummies were easy to make, and seemed like they may be easier (and less messy) to give to small children than the liquid.
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What you need:
- 1 and 1/4 cup of Elderberry syrup, separated (you can make your own with one of our recipes! Find a simple elderberry syrup recipe and our favorite, and aronia/elderberry syrup!)
- Grass-fed gelatin
- Silicone molds
- Medicine dropper (I found makes it much easier to measure how much goes into each gummy, and is less messy than using a spoon)
- Coconut oil spray (optional, but I’ve found makes it significantly easier to get the gummies our of the molds)
- Baking sheet (optional, I found it easier and less messy to do the entire project with your molds on a small making sheet. This will make transferring your molds to the fridge simple and you won’t find yourself spilling most of your mixture all over the floor… Ask me how I know!)
Directions:
- Heat 1/4 cup of elderberry syrup to just below boiling. (Initially I used plain water for this; however, did not like how diluted the finished product was).
- Whisk 1 TBSP of grass-fed gelatin into 1 cup of elderberry syrup.
- Add in your 1/4 cup of heated elderberry syrup and mix well.
- Lightly spray the surface of your silicone molds with coconut oil and place your molds onto your baking sheet.
- Using your medicine dropper, carefully fill each mold with your elderberry/gelatin mixture.
- Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until gel sets.
- Remove from molds and enjoy! Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
To use:
Make sure to follow the instructions on the elderberry syrup you decide to use. For the concentration of elderberry syrup we used, children receive 1-2 tsp of syrup per dosing. Each of the small animal gummies equaled 1/4 teaspoon and for the large gummy worms 1 full tsp.
*Also remember children under the age of 1 are not recommended to consume raw honey.
Both of our boys loved them! There are no sticky spills to cleanup, I only have to give them a certain amount each and they gobble them down!
Coloration with vary depending on which variety of elderberry your syrup is made with. For the batch in these photos, I used Sambucus canadensis which produces a lighter, more pink syrup than it’s European relatives.
