Honey dandelion shortbread cookies

Shortbread cookies for a spring or summer day! Dandelions are a fun and unique addition to cookies and are a perfect introduction for foraging. 

 

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Dandelions are an easy wild edible to add into your baking and cooking. Dandelions are pretty ubiquitous and easy to identify, plus the entire plant is edible, so you don't have to worry about removing certain parts. They are a great introduction to foraging, and a perfect foraging activity for kids. 

These cookies are made with the common yellow dandelion found in our northeastern U.S. backyard. You can read more about dandelions as food here.

Always make sure you are getting your dandelions from safe places. I avoid places that have been sprayed or treated with pesticides. I also avoid getting them from too close to the road as we have so much road salt put down here in the winter and people salt the sidewalks as well. 

We get our dandelions from our backyard, not too close to anyone else's lawn. Since we don't spray our grass to remove "weeds", we have plenty of dandelions available to us every year! 

These cookies are a fun treat for spring and summer, plus you can get kids involved with helping to pick the flowers and then to pick off all the petals. 

We gather the flower heads, wash them under cold water, and then place them on a kitchen towel to dry for a while. You can also use a salad spinner to help dry them more quickly and thoroughly.

Then, you want to pull off all the yellow petals from the green portion of the flower head (it's fine if a few get into the petals). 

My kids thought this was a fun project and the cookies are also quite delicious! They ask to do it every year now and watch for them to pop up in our yard.

I also add just a tiny a bit of wildflower honey to this shortbread to help highlight the floral flavor from the dandelions. You can leave it out if you prefer.

The cookies are quite mild in flavor, but so pretty with tiny specks of yellow throughout (and a little green as well). The petals of dandelions do not have a strong flavor; it's a very mild floral and almost honey-like flavor. 

Shortbread cookies are simple to make and only require a few ingredients that you likely have on hand most of the time. Flour, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt are basic ingredients for a shortbread cookie.

Shortbread cookies are an easy way to add herbs and other plants into your baking. These delicate butter and sugar cookies create a blank canvass for all sorts of flavors. I like to use them to highlight all kinds of ingredients like these dandelion petals.

Want another fun dandelion recipe? Check out these lemon dandelion muffins!

Yield: 18 cookies

Author: Amy Bartlett (Savory Moments)

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Honey Dandelion Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies for a spring or summer day! Dandelions are a fun and unique addition to cookies and are a perfect introduction for foraging.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• scant 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup loosely packed dandelion petals
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• coarse sugar, for topping, optional

Instructions:

1. Wash dandelion flower heads under cold water and set on a kitchen towel to dry. Then pick the yellow petals off the green flower heads until you have a half cup of petals.
   
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy. Mix in the dandelions.
3. On low speed, add the salt and vanilla and then slowly add the flour until it is just incorporated into the dough. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Turn the dough onto a couple large sheets of plastic wrap and roll it into a log that is about 2-2.5 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the log into about 1/4-inch slices and place on the baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle each with a little coarse sugar, if desired.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges and bottoms are turning golden. Let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then place the cookies on a cooling rack to fully cool.
7. Store cookies in an airtight container. They are more flavorful a day or two after baking.

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Give these honey dandelion shortbread cookies a try this spring or summer with all those lawn dandelions! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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This post was originally published in 2019 and has been updated most recently in 2023 to improve reader experience. 

Check out these other shortbread cookie recipes:

Cinnamon Basil Shortbread Cookies

Rosemary Shortbread Christmas Tree Cookies

Chocolate-dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies