Spring Dandelion Lemon Cookies

Do you remember being a kid, playing at the park or in your backyard, and marveling at the carpet of little yellow and purple flowers sprinkled in among the grass? Clover, with their too-heavy white globes bent over among their green little counterparts, while deep purple wild violets spread low and close to the ground. Dandelions towered above, shooting up almost overnight to hang like little suns over the grass. Remember picking some for your mom or grandma or friend, clutching these teeny, delicate blooms in your sweaty little well-intentioned fist, and being like “behold, the gorgeous bounty of the Earth” as you pressed your little bouquet into their cool hands?

Picking dandelions to cook with is like the grown-up version of that vibe.

How Do I Harvest Dandelions?

For this recipe, you only need the flowers, which makes this super easy. First, and probably the hardest part, is finding a dandelion-rich place to harvest that has NOT been treated with pesticides. Your yard, friends’ yards, the woods, maybe a local farm are all great places to find dandelions. On the edge of a road and around businesses are not unless you can guarantee they’re untreated.

Once you have your field, wait until mid-morning so that the dew is off and the flowers are opened up from their little overnight sleep. You just need the flowers, so you can pop them off with your hand or snip them, if you like. Once home, you will need to give them a little rinse, then spread them out on a towel in a sunny spot (inside or outside is your choice) for a few hours or overnight. This lets any bugs who hitched a ride home find a new spot, and it also allows them to wilt down. Somewhere in this time frame cut off the green parts so you just have the flower petals. If you have kids, they might enjoy picking out the petals or helping you cut the stems. The green parts will make your cookies bitter, so we don’t need those here.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together really well in a large bowl.
3. Add the egg and cream it into the butter and sugar.
4. Add the flour, honey, salt, and zest, then combine that into a smooth mixture. You might find adding the flour in 2 or 3 batches to make this easier.
5. Now add your dandelions, stirring to combine without going ham on the thing.
6. Roll the cookies into balls about 1″ thick. Place them on the parchment, leaving some room between, but understand these won’t flatten way down. I pressed mine in a crosshatch with a fork, partially because it’s pretty and partially to flatten them some.
7. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t overbake. We’re just looking for lightly browned bottoms and pretty pale tops, so know your oven and pull them when you feel good about it. Check the bottoms as a gauge because the tops will stay pretty pale.
8. Let them chill on the baking sheet for a minute before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack.

Bask in your Mother Earthness and serve these with tea or milk, preferably somewhere with the sun on your face so you can close your eyes, tilt your head back, and take a slow, decadent bite like the goddess you are.

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