I harvested dandelions from my garden beds over the weekend and dusted off my favorite eat-the-weeds recipe. Dandelion thumbprint cookies with apricot jam.
Most people look at dandelions and hate them. Don’t hate. Eat!They have a pleasant fragrance that adds a gentle flavor to these cookies, plus color.
Dandelion Apricot Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients:
About 20 freshly-clipped dandelion flower heads
1/2 cup apricot jam
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons of chopped dandelion flower petals
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line two baking sheets with parchment
Clip fringes of the petals into a bowl
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt
In a separate bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and cream. Beat in egg yolks, dandelions, zest, juice and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in several additions and beat until it becomes a clump. Gather dough into a ball. Pinch off one-inch pieces. Roll and press thumb into center on cookie sheet. Fill with a 1/4 tsp of jam.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. Watch carefully so bottoms don’t get too browned
Cool on wire racks.
~Debbie