Bright and sunny muffins full of yellow lemon zest and yellow dandelion petals are sure to brighten your day and your taste buds! These muffins are a fun and delicious breakfast or snack to make this spring and summer.
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Dandelions are popping up all over our yard and that means it's time to harvest some of the flowers and use the petals for baking. The kids have been watching and checking every day lately to see if there were enough to collect.
They get excited to collect them, bake, and the best part - eat something delicious they helped to make.
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We usually make honey dandelion shortbread cookies and they are so good. Those cookies are the most popular recipe on this blog and people get so excited to make them this time of year.
This year we decided to try some muffins for a change. I knew lemon would be a good choice because the dandelions themselves are very mild in flavor. The lemon really makes these muffins pop and the dandelion petals add a lovely color.
These muffins are moist, fluffy, and flavorful. They go perfectly with a breakfast of scrambled eggs or as a snack with hot coffee or tea. The bright lemon flavor and lightly floral flavor pair well together for a treat that's perfect for spring time!
Foraging for dandelions is a fun activity for kids and the whole family. Dandelions are easy to recognize, they are common, and the entire plant is edible. This makes it a terrific introduction to foraging and collecting wild foods.
You always want to make sure you are collecting them from an area that has not been sprayed or treated with pesticides, etc. It's also a good idea to collect them away from roads, parking lots, and sidewalks as there can be road salts, runoff, animal waste, etc. We collect them from the middle areas of our backyard.
After the dandelions are collected, they need to be washed, dried, and the petals removed from the flower heads (see recipe notes for more information). This is a great activity for children to help with while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
As you can see, some of the outer darker petals and green portions will inevitably end up in the muffins, especially with kids helping. But since the entire plant is edible, this is totally fine.
The green portions of the plant like the leaves and stem are more bitter, but the outer portions of the flower head are just a darker brown/dark green color and won't make a flavor difference.
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.
Lemon Dandelion Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup loosely packed dandelion flower petals
- zest of two large lemons
- juice from two large lemons (about 1/4 cup)
- 2/3 cup sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease with butter/cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour through salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream through sugar until smooth.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Divide the batter into the 12 muffin tins.
- Bake for about 18-21 minutes, until lightly golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool before eating.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Notes:
I find it's easiest to collect the dandelion flower heads in a colander. Rinse them well under cold water and then give them a few spins in a salad spinner to dry. Then you can pull out all the yellow petals and discard the green parts as best you can.
I hope you give these muffins a try! Let me know in the comments below.
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Check out these other recipes using edible flowers:
Honey Dandelion Shortbread Cookies
Dandelion Soup from That Recipe
Cheddar & Chive Blossom Scones from Palatable Pastime
Lemon Lavender Chess Pie from The Spiffy Cookie
Hibiscus Buttermilk Cakes from Karen's Kitchen Stories
A great idea of using dandelion in muffins. They look soft and tender.
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of dandelions in the yard right now and every morning I watch the birds feeding on them and the seeds. I've never thought about using the pedals and putting them in baked goods. What a brilliant idea! Tomorrow when the blooms open, I'm going to have to go pick some and taste them. I bet I would have enough for a cup of pedals. Inspiring and delicious looking muffins!
ReplyDeleteI've used dandelion greens before, but never the flower. Neat idea! These muffins look terrific.
ReplyDeleteWow! The dandelion is a new ingredient for me but it sure sounds like fun and the muffins look so pretty!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea. We are going to have to give these a try. Your dandelion baked goods always look so intriguing!
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I love dandelion greens, but didn't realize you could each the flowers.
ReplyDeleteI eat dandelion flowers as often as they are available from non sprayed areas. Actually keeps my allergies at bay.
DeleteDear Amy, fun recipe - a great use of dandelion petals! So nice that you got the kids involved in harvesting the dandelions and picking off the petals!
ReplyDeletethese were delicious. i used orange instead of lemon as i couldn’t find individual lemons and didn’t want to waste a bag. turned out so yummy. i plan to make again w. lemon!
ReplyDeleteI love these muffins and was wondering if I don’t have enough dandelions this time of year does the recipe work as is with out them? I was thinking of making them as minis and putting a blackberry from my garden into each one. I wanted to make the shortbread cookies which I love and since no dandelions was thinking of using a tablespoon of lavender…do you think that would work? Thank you for sharing your excellent recipes!
ReplyDeleteI think I answered your question on Instagram already, but yes I think that will work fine.
DeleteCan I freeze the Dandelion Petals?
ReplyDeleteor can the petals be dried?
DeleteI've seen other people do both, but I've never done them myself.
Delete