Rye botanical cookies

Blessed Beltane, north hemisphere friends!

We’ve celebrated the arrival of sunny days, the ones filled with the bee buzzying and creek splashing and flower opening and outdoors morning coffee sipping and cicadas night singing kind of joy with a new baking endeavour: botanical cookies!

I was inspired by Bex Patridge’s contribution to Plants are Magic volume 4 - and this idea of incorporating edible flowers in the kitchen, apart from salads and caketop decorations, had caught my eye ever since the magazine landed in our mailbox.

It all starts with a good old cookie recipe, whichever you prefer. I went for a classical butter cookie recipe, using rye flour. I’ll explain below.

Directions

• Cream together the butter and sugar;

• Add the two beaten eggs, vanilla and lemon zest;

• Slowly mix in the flour until you have an homogeneous dough

• Roll out the dough with a rolling pin

• Place a flower (or more!) over each future cookie

• Lay a sheet of baking paper over the dough and flowers and roll out once again. This is to ensure the flowers are really sticking to the dough, otherwise they will curl away as your cookies bake.

• Cut off your cookies and bake until slightly brown at 180º C

Ingredients

• 3 cups of rye flour

• 1 1/2 cups of butter

• 1 cup of sugar

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 2 tsp shaved vanilla pod

• 1 lemon zest

• edible flowers, like borage, violas, calendula, pansies.
  (note: only use eat flowers you’re 200% sure they’re edible - of course - and that you’re sure haven’t been sprayed with anything nasty. Personally, I only eat flowers I’ve grown myself)

Voilà, mes amis. Enjoy them with a good cup of floral tea and don’t forget to leave some outside, hanging in trees and bushes, or by the windows if you’re a windowsill gardener, as offerings to the spirits of blooms - may they continue to grace you & me with vibrant, delicious flowers!

See you on the other side <3