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Chamomile jelly is lovely on biscuits and scones, and it’s just another way to enjoy this classic tea-time herb from the garden.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- What Does Chamomile Jelly Taste Like?
- Choosing and Harvesting Chamomile
- Ingredients for Chamomile Jelly
- Low Sugar Options
- How to Make Chamomile Jelly
- Canning Chamomile Jelly
- Altitude Adjustments
- Ways to Use Chamomile Jelly
- Chamomile Jelly FAQs
- Flower Jelly Recipes
- Chamomile Jelly Recipe
- Jelly Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Chamomile is usually associated with herbal tea, but this fragrant herb is wonderful in all sorts of recipes, including a homemade chamomile jelly. It’s a nice way to hold onto that soothing, sunny flavor in a form you can spread.
I particularly like this floral jelly on biscuits and scones, where the sweet flavor plays off the buttery texture of the baked good. It also makes lovely jelly thumbprint cookies.
Notes from My Kitchen
Chamomile is one of those herbs I mostly think of as tea, but its flavor carries into a jelly beautifully. Where a lot of flower jellies taste like something unexpected, chamomile jelly just tastes like chamomile, that sweet, aromatic, slightly apple-like comfort, concentrated into a sunny golden jar.
I like it best on a warm biscuit or scone, where the floral sweetness plays off the buttery crumb, and it makes good thumbprint cookies too. A batch makes about 5 half-pint jars, and since chamomile dries so well, you can make it from fresh blossoms in summer or dried tea any time of year.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Chamomile Jelly
- Recipe Type: Flower Jelly Recipe
- Canning Method: Water Bath Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: About 30 Minutes (including steeping)
- Canning Time: 10 Minutes
- Yield: 5 to 6 half-pint jars
- Jar Sizes: Quarter Pint, Half Pint, or Pint
- Headspace: 1/4 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Chamomile flowers, water, lemon juice, sugar, and pectin
- Difficulty: Easy! You’re basically making a strong chamomile tea and setting it with pectin.
- Similar Recipes: The process is very similar to other summertime herbal and flower jellies, including Clover Jelly, Calendula Jelly, Elderflower Jelly, Nasturtium Jelly, Borage Jelly, and Rose Petal Jelly.
What Does Chamomile Jelly Taste Like?
A lot of flower jellies taste like something other than the flower they’re made from. Pansy jelly tastes like fresh spring berries, and forsythia jelly tastes a lot like sweet summer peaches. Chamomile, though, is unmistakable.
Chamomile jelly tastes like chamomile and not much else: concentrated, aromatic comfort with a sweet, sunny, slightly apple-like side. In the jar, it’s a soft golden color, the same warm tone as a strong cup of the tea.
I made this today using two cups of fresh-picked chamomile flowers from my garden, and it’s delicious. I can’t really compare its flavor to anything I’ve ever tried as it’s a flavor all its own, light, fresh, floral and not overly sweet. I liked it so much that after I filled the jars I was scraping the pot with a spatula to get every last drop to eat! It will taste great on anything you like jelly on, toast, biscuits, thumbprint cookies, etc. Thanks for sharing this recipe! It’s really good!
Choosing and Harvesting Chamomile
If you’re harvesting fresh chamomile, choose blossoms that are fully developed but still holding onto their petals. As the flowers lose their petals, they also start to lose their flavor, so the best blooms are the fresh, full ones. Harvest from plants grown without pesticides.
You don’t need fresh flowers to make this, though. Dried chamomile tea works just as well, which makes chamomile jelly something you can put up any time of year. If you’re using dried, use about 2 to 3 times what you’d normally steep for a cup of tea so the flavor comes through in the finished jelly.
Ingredients for Chamomile Jelly
Chamomile jelly uses the same basic formula as other flower jellies: a strong tea steeped from the flowers, then set with sugar, pectin, and a bit of lemon juice for balance and safety.
- Chamomile Flowers (Fresh or Dried): Use about 1 to 2 cups of fresh blossoms or roughly 1/2 cup of dried chamomile. Chamomile is potent, so it takes fewer flowers than most jellies. Choose fully open, petaled blooms from plants grown without pesticides. One note: if you’re allergic to ragweed or other plants in the daisy family, you may react to chamomile.
- Water: Use clean filtered water if your tap water has a strong chlorine taste, which can carry through into the delicate floral flavor.
- Lemon Juice: The lemon juice balances the sweetness, brings out the floral notes, helps the pectin set, and lowers the pH enough to make the jelly safe for canning. Use bottled lemon juice for its consistent acidity, and don’t cut it back. For a more neutral flavor you can use citric acid powder instead, at about 1 teaspoon in place of the 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
- Sugar: Regular powdered pectin needs plenty of sugar to gel, so this recipe follows the current Sure Jell ratio of 5 cups sugar to 4 cups of liquid for an old-fashioned jelly that sets reliably. There’s a lower-sugar option in the note just below if you’d prefer one.
- Pectin: Reach for regular powdered pectin (like Sure Jell) here. It’s dependable and gives a consistent set with this chamomile tea.
Low Sugar Options
If you’d like a less sweet jelly, reach for Sure Jell low sugar pectin instead and cut the sugar back to as little as 1 to 2 cups. With Pomona’s Universal Pectin, bump the lemon juice up to 1/2 cup, since Pomona’s doesn’t include the added citric acid that other pectin brands do.
Pomona’s is a two-part low sugar pectin with a separate calcium water, so it works a bit differently. Follow the mint jelly directions on the box, and if it’s your first time with it, it’s worth reading through how to use Pomona’s pectin first.
How to Make Chamomile Jelly
Making chamomile jelly is like the other herbal and flower jellies, with one difference: chamomile has a potent flavor, so it takes fewer flowers than most. You steep the blossoms into a strong tea, then set that tea with lemon juice, pectin, and sugar.
Don’t skip the lemon juice. It balances the sweetness, brings out the floral notes, helps the pectin set, and lowers the pH enough to make the jelly safe for water bath canning, so it stays in the recipe even if you’re keeping your jars in the fridge.
Prepare the Chamomile
You’ll need about 1 to 2 cups of fresh chamomile blossoms, or roughly 1/2 cup of dried chamomile. The exact amount depends on your taste and how strong your chamomile is, but it’s worth using about twice what you’d brew for a cup of tea, since it takes a bit more to carry the flavor into a jelly.
If you’re picking fresh, choose blossoms that are fully open but still have their petals, since flowers that have dropped their petals start to lose their flavor. Give them a quick look for insects before you start.
Make the Chamomile Tea
Place the chamomile in a heatproof bowl or quart jar. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, pour it over the flowers, and let them steep for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer into your jelly pot, pressing gently on the flowers, and you should have about 4 cups of chamomile tea.
Add Lemon Juice and Pectin
Add 1/4 cup of bottled lemon juice to the chamomile tea. (The lemon balances the sweetness, brings out the floral notes, helps the pectin set, and brings the pH down into the safe range for canning, so don’t leave it out.) Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once it’s boiling, whisk in one box of powdered pectin until it dissolves completely, then keep it at a full boil for one minute before you add the sugar.
Add the Sugar
After that minute of boiling with the pectin, add 5 cups of sugar all at once. (Don’t add the sugar before or at the same time as the pectin, or the jelly won’t set.) Stir until the sugar dissolves completely, then bring everything back to a full rolling boil for one more minute.
Pull the pot off the heat and skim off any foam with a spoon. Ladle the hot jelly into prepared jars right away, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
Canning Chamomile Jelly
Canning is optional, but it’s a nice way to keep this herbal jelly on the shelf year-round, and it makes a thoughtful gift. If you’d rather skip it, let the jars cool completely on the counter, then store the jelly in the refrigerator for a few weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
To can chamomile jelly, have your water bath canner, jars, and lids ready before you start. After filling the jars and leaving 1/4 inch of headspace, wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth, set on the two-part canning lids, and tighten the bands until fingertip tight.
Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Lift the jars out and let them cool undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours, then check the seals. Refrigerate any jars that didn’t seal and use them first. Properly sealed jars hold their quality on the pantry shelf for 12 to 18 months, and you’ll want to refrigerate after opening.
Altitude Adjustments
For water bath canning, processing times increase at higher elevations:
- 0 to 6,000 feet: 10 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: 15 minutes
Ways to Use Chamomile Jelly
Chamomile jelly is sweet and floral, so it’s right at home on breakfast foods. Spread it on a warm biscuit, a scone, or a piece of toast, where the floral sweetness plays off the buttery crumb. It also makes lovely jelly thumbprint cookies, and a spoonful stirred into a mug of hot water or tea is a soothing treat.
For a fruitier jar, try a chamomile-strawberry version. Ball has a tested recipe that swaps the water for fresh strawberry juice, infusing the chamomile into the warm juice before setting it into jelly. And if you’d like more ways to use chamomile, it turns up in everything from teas to baked goods.
Chamomile Jelly FAQs
Chamomile jelly tastes distinctly of chamomile: sweet, aromatic, and a little apple-like, the same soothing flavor you know from the tea but more concentrated. Unlike many flower jellies, which taste like something unexpected, chamomile is unmistakable. In the jar it’s a soft golden color.
Yes. Dried chamomile tea works just as well as fresh flowers, which makes this an any-season recipe. Use about 1/2 cup of dried chamomile, or roughly 2 to 3 times what you’d steep for a cup of tea, so the flavor carries into the finished jelly.
The most common reasons jelly doesn’t set are adding the sugar at the same time as the pectin (add pectin first and boil for 1 minute before adding sugar), boiling the finished jelly for too long (over 5 minutes), or trying to double the batch size. If it doesn’t set after 24-48 hours, enjoy it as a syrup or read through my guide on troubleshooting jelly set.
Yes, but you’ll need to use a low-sugar pectin like Sure-Jell Low Sugar or Pomona’s Universal Pectin and follow the package instructions for mint jelly. If you use Pomona’s, increase the lemon juice to 1/2 cup, since it doesn’t contain the added citric acid that other pectins do. The yield will be lower with reduced sugar.
Flower Jelly Recipes
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Chamomile Jelly
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
For the Chamomile Tea
- 1 to 2 cups fresh chamomile blossoms, or 1/2 cup dried chamomile
- 4 cups water
For the Jelly
- 4 cups chamomile tea, strained
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice, or 1 teaspoon citric acid
- 1 box powdered pectin, 1.75 oz, regular, such as Sure-Jell original, or 6 Tbsp Bulk Pectin
- 5 cups granulated sugar, See notes for low sugar options
Instructions
- Place the chamomile (fresh or dried) in a heatproof bowl or jar. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the flowers. Steep 10 to 15 minutes.
- Strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer into a large pot, pressing gently. Measure the tea, adding water if needed to reach the full amount called for.
- Add the lemon juice to the tea and bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the powdered pectin until fully dissolved and boil for 1 minute.
- Add all the sugar at once and stir to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
- Ladle hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims, center lids, and apply bands fingertip tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat and let jars rest 5 minutes, then cool undisturbed 12 to 24 hours before checking seals.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this today using two cups of fresh picked chamomile flowers from my garden and it’s delicious. I can’t really compare its flavor to anything I’ve ever tried as it’s a flavor all its own – light, fresh, floral and not overly sweet. I liked it so much that after I filled the jars I was scraping the pot with a spatula to get every last drop to eat! It will taste great on anything you like jelly on – toast, biscuits, thumbprint cookies, etc. Thanks for sharing this recipe! It’s really good!
I’m so glad you loved it!