My Montana adventures continue with this tasty chokecherry syrup recipe. This delicious and versatile syrup can be served over pancakes, waffles, and ice cream. Just don't get caught chugging it out of the bottle! 😉 Be sure to try my delicious chokecherry jelly & chokecherry fruit roll-ups too!
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I might or might not have been caught last night picking these tiny jewels on the side of the road. I was joined by my partners in crime, Anita and Lori.
A lot of laughs were had as we plucked the chokecherries from the loaded branches of the chokecherry trees that line our friend Anita's street.
This was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so we did not have our guns and bear spray. Luckily, they were not needed, and fun was had by all! The first thing I prepared with my chokecherries was chokecherry syrup, and yes, I shared it with my friends!
Jump to:
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chokecherries: You can use either fresh or frozen chokecherries
- Sugar: Granulated sugar to sweeten the syrup.
- Pectin: Some fruits have a lot of pectin, while other fruits have hardly any. In this recipe, we will be using two tablespoons of pectin. You can use powdered or liquid pectin. Although cornstarch can be used to thicken the syrup, it's not recommended for canning.
- Lemon Juice: Either bottled or frozen lemon juice, or a combination of lemon and orange juice.
- Optional: Feel free to add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract. Between the two, I prefer almond extract, since chokecherries naturally have an almond-like flavor.
🔪 Helpful Tools
🍒 How to Make Chokecherry Syrup
Step 1 | Prepare Chokecherries
Thoroughly wash chokecherries by adding them to a large bowl and covering them with cold water. Skim the surface to remove any pests, sticks, and leaves. Add cleaned chokecherries to a saucepan and cover with four cups of water.
Step 2 | Boil & Mash Chokecherries
Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Halfway through, mash the chokecherries with a potato masher to release their juice. Pour the mashed chokecherries through a strainer to extract as much juice as possible.
Step 3 | Strain Juice
If you end up with less than 4 cups of juice, cover the pits and pulp with the amount of water required to make 4 cups of juice. Stir the mixture and strain again to extract more juice.
Step 4 | Add Sugar
Pour chokecherry juice into a saucepan and add four cups of sugar. Add orange juice and lemon juice. Simmer for 15 minutes, until sugar is dissolved.
Step 5 | Add Pectin
Sprinkle with pectin and whisk to combine. Bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes. Test a small amount of syrup by placing it in the refrigerator until completely cool to see if the syrup has the desired consistency.
Pro Tip: If you want the syrup thicker, you can reheat the syrup and whisk in more pectin, and bring to a rolling boil for one minute. If the syrup is thicker than you'd like, add water, ½ of a cup at a time, keeping in mind the syrup will thicken once refrigerated.
Step 6 | Pour into Jars and Process
Pour chokecherry syrup into sterilized jars. Wipe the rims with a clean washcloth or paper towel before adding the jar lids and collars. Hand-tighten.
🫙 Processing Instructions
To process the chokecherry syrup, add filled jars to a water bath canner filled with hot water. Use jar-lifting tongs to lower the jars into the hot water. Make sure the water is at least a few inches above the jars. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes; adjust for altitude.
Adjust Processing Time For Altitude
If you live 1000 feet or higher above sea level, you need to adjust the processing time for higher altitudes! Follow the times listed below.
| Altitude | Additional Processing Time |
| 1,001 — 3,000 3,001 — 6,000 6,001 — 8,000 8,001 — 10,000 | 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes |
🍽 Serving Suggestions
You can serve this chokecherry syrup over your favorite pancake recipe. Some of my favorites include these eggless pancakes and pfannkuchen (German pancakes). You can also drizzle it on baked protein oats, waffles, and ice cream, or sweeten your favorite cocktails with it!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Chokecherries look like mini cherries but grow in a clump, similar to grapes. According to Wikipedia, chokecherries are also known as Bitter-Berry, Virginia Bird Cherry, and Western Chokecherry.
They grow in most of the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico. In Montana, chokecherries grow in abundance and ripen in September.
Yes, you can eat chokecherries, although you wouldn't want to pick one off the tree and plop it in your mouth. Yes, I speak from experience.
Chokecherries have pits that look like regular cherry pits, only proportionally smaller. However, that's where the similarities end. Chokecherries don't share the same wonderful taste that regular cherries have. Instead, they have a bitter and astringent taste and will make you pucker or "choke" when you taste them.
Don't let the unpleasant taste of chokecherries fool you. They taste great when used in various recipes.
Some of the things you can make with chokecherries include syrup, jam, chokecherry jelly, chokecherry wine, and fruit roll-ups. There are some who even dry and pound the chokecherries into flour.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract, which will enhance the cherry flavor. If you prefer, you can add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Mix in a small amount of the chokecherry pulp and skin for a chunkier texture.
- If you find this recipe too sweet, you can always use less sugar (3 cups instead of 4).
- Leave out the pectin for a thinner syrup.
- If you love cinnamon flavor, add ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon when you add the sugar.
🍓 More Syrup Recipes
If you enjoy this chokecherry syrup recipe, give these other syrup recipes a try!
Did you make this recipe?
📖 Recipe
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Chokecherry Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Thoroughly wash chokecherries by adding them to a large bowl and covering them with cold water. Skim the surface to remove any pests, sticks, and leaves. Add cleaned chokecherries to a saucepan and cover with four cups of water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Halfway through, mash the chokecherries with a potato masher to release their juice. Pour the mashed chokecherries through a strainer to extract as much juice as possible.
- If you end up with less than 4 cups of juice, cover the pits and pulp with the amount of water required to make 4 cups of juice. Stir the mixture and strain again to extract more juice.
- Pour chokecherry juice into a saucepan and add four cups of sugar. Add orange juice and lemon juice. Simmer for 15 minutes, until sugar is dissolved.
- Sprinkle with pectin and whisk to combine. Bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes. Test a small amount of syrup by placing it in the refrigerator until completely cool to see if the syrup has the desired consistency.
- Pour chokecherry syrup into sterilized jars. Wipe the rims with a clean washcloth or paper towel before adding the jar lids and collars. Hand-tighten.
- To process the chokecherry syrup, add filled jars to a water bath canner, filled with hot water. Use jar-lifting tongs to lower the jars into the hot water. Make sure the water is at least a few inches above the jars. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- If you want the syrup thicker, you can reheat the syrup and whisk in more pectin, and bring to a rolling boil for one minute. If the syrup is thicker than you'd like, add water, ½ of a cup at a time, keeping in mind the syrup will thicken once refrigerated.
- Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract, which will enhance the cherry flavor. If you prefer, you can add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Mix in a small amount of the chokecherry pulp and skin for a chunkier texture.
- Leave out the pectin for a thinner syrup.
- If you love cinnamon flavor, add ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon when you add the sugar.
Lisa says
Are you sure the pectin shouldn't be 1-2 teaspoons and not 2 Tablespoons...mine came out sooo thick, almost like a chunky cranberry sauce...too thick....I even added water to thin it out. It still tasted good, but the next batch I make I will use very little pectin, as I want a pourable pancake syrup, not a gloppy jelly like syrup. Maybe I did something wrong on my end, but I will try again because it had a nice flavor 🙂 Any thoughts?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Lisa, Thanks for your feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the flavor, even though the consistency was thicker than you wanted. I've made this recipe many times using 2 tablespoons of powdered pectin, and it has consistently produced a pourable syrup for me. Other readers have also had success with the recipe as written.
The natural pectin content of chokecherries can vary depending on the fruit, and the type and brand of powdered pectin can also make a difference. Chokecherries are traditionally harvested after a couple of frosts, which is when I usually pick mine. If your berries were harvested at a different stage of ripeness, that could potentially affect the final consistency as well.
Since you prefer a thinner pancake syrup, I think experimenting with less pectin in your next batch is certainly worth trying. I'm glad you liked the flavor and are willing to give it another try! 😊
Gail Welch says
Do you remove all the stems??
Hilda Sterner says
You really don't need to since the juice gets strained out.
Jackielou Fuentes says
Hi cant find powdered pectin, i see liquid ones, is it still 2 tblspn?
Hilda Sterner says
It's funny you ask, I just tried this recipe with liquid pectin last week and it did not set, but it did make a great syrup consistency so I didn't bother trying to thicken it. If you do try the liquid, you may need to increase the amount of sugar.