I can eat a whole jar of maraschino cherries in one sitting. Shirley Temples have always been a favorite drink of mine. No ice cream sundae is complete without a cherry on top. Homemade maraschino cherries keep their health benefits, and they taste just as good, if not better than the processed cherries.
Sweet cherries have vitamins like C and A and they are a good source of fiber. However, when these cherries are processed into maraschino cherries, they lose much of their nutritional value.
I have actually been planning to make homemade maraschino cherries with sweet cherries from Strites’ Orchard since I learned I could make them myself. This week’s CSA included them so I used the entire quart to make two jars of maraschino cherries. The honey is also from Strites’ Orchard.
How to pit a cherry
You don’t need any fancy equipment to pit a cherry. Pitting a whole quart of cherries might sound like a tedious and time consuming task, but I used the paperclip method and it went very quickly. Simply insert the paperclip in the cherry where the stem was, twist and pull out the pit. See this video for a demonstration.
Honey
Honey takes the place of sugar in this maraschino cherry recipe. Honey gives them a nice sweetness without being too overpowering.
Almond Extract
The almond extract is used to enhance the flavor of the maraschino cherries. It gives you that classic maraschino flavor.
Lemon Juice
The small amount of lemon juice in this recipe helps contrast the sweetness between the cherries and the honey.
Can you can maraschino cherries?
This recipe for homemade maraschino cherries was not made to be canned. Keep the cherries refrigerated and they should last you a few weeks. I definitely ate all mine before that though.
I adapted this recipe from Bake This Cake.
Homemade Maraschino Cherries
Ingredients
- 1 quart sweet cherries pitted
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 quart water
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 5-10 drops red food coloring Optional
Instructions
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In a pan, bring the quart of water and salt to a boil. Cool.
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Add the cherries and chill overnight.
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Drain and rinse the cherries.
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In another pan, mix the water and honey. Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil.
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Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
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Cool and add the food coloring, vanilla, and almond extract.
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Pack the cherries in jars. Pour the syrup on top.
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Store in the fridge.
4 responses to “Easy Homemade Maraschino Cherries Made with Honey”
What this is SO COOL. I did not know you could make maraschino cherries at home, though I guess I probably should have known that. You can make basically everything at home. I definitely want to try this with maple syrup in place of honey. Do you think that would still work?
I think it would work! The flavor might be a little different. Let me know how they turn out if you try it!
What cherries are considered sweet cherries? Bing, Ranier, something else…?
Bing cherries will work. The orchard where I purchase mine just labels them sweet or sour, rather than the variety. I hope this helps!