When I set out picking dandelions yesterday, my intention was to make an infusion for jelly.  Arriving home with a basket of the happy yellow flowers, though, I felt inspired to try something new.

I got a new cookbook, Recipes From The Herbalist’s Kitchen by Brittany Wood Nickerson, and I’ve been trying out recipes from it.  I vaguely remembered she had something with dandelions in it.  I flipped through the section entitled “Spring” and found what I was looking for: Lavender and Dandelion Flower Muffins.

First step with just about any dandelion recipe is to remove the green part of the flower.  I usually use my kitchen shears for this.  It’s a good front porch sitting project.  It is time consuming but the green parts are bitter and can ruin the flavor of your end product.  Snipping becomes kind of meditative after a while too.

After I had two cups of flower petals prepared, I was ready to make the batter.

The cookbook recipe calls for mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl, the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and then the flowers.  I used my stand mixer and simply added all the dry ingredients except the flowers and mixed.  Then I added the wet and mixed again.  Finally the flowers went in and got mixed.  I used dried lavender buds from last year’s harvest.

Nickerson says to butter muffin tins but I used papers in mine for ease.  She also says the recipe will make 10 muffins but mine made 12.

After some time in the oven, they come out lightly browned and gorgeous!  I broke one open and let a slab of butter melt into its warmth.  A nice afternoon treat straight from the yard and another new way to get our daily dose of flowers.

Lavender and Dandelion Muffins

adapted from Recipes From The Herbalist’s Kitchen by Brittany Wood Nickerson

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups loosely packed dandelion petals
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers (I might drop this down to 1 tablespoon next time)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (if desired)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin tin with papers.
2. In a stand mixer, add the first five ingredients, through salt.  Mix to combine.
3. Add the next five ingredients, through vanilla, and mix until just combined.
4. Finally, add the flowers and nuts, if using and stir until incorporated.
5. Fill the tins to the top with batter and bake until a toothpick comes out clean in the center, about 15-17 minutes.
6. Enjoy!