HELLO AND WELCOME

Hello there lovely...

Here, I have put together a fun, simple recipe for making gorgeous little botanical biscuits.  This is a wonderful base recipe for many creative kitchen projects and one I have used many times.  I hope you enjoy and feel inspired to wander through your own garden and see what sort of edible goodies you may have to create something beautiful with.

This is a pantry recipe and you are likely to have most, if not all, of the ingredients already.  If you don’t have any edible flowers, you may have some herbs such as rosemary or thyme, which also work wonderfully.

INSPIRATION FROM THE GARDEN

As a child, making roll-out cookies for holidays was one of my favourite activities.  I remember it all so clearly… waiting patiently for my mom to make the dough, chill the dough, bake the cookies, and make the icing.  My mom supplied an array of icing colours and embellishments and I would spend hours detailing each cookie. 

I have been so excited to make these with my kids, and they did such an amazing job!  They loved helping me pick the flowers and they especially loved working with the “cookie play dough,” as they call it.  And of course, they loved eating them. 

Botanical bickies can be made in many ways; usually, flowers are pressed onto the raw cookie before baking, and then set in the oven, crisping up a little bit.  Here, I wanted to try something different.  I have made a simple glaze with pure icing sugar to top the cooled cookies, then added the flowers on top and let them set at room temperature. 

I think the result is wonderful!  The glaze hardens as it dries and so they hold the flowers in place and so they can be stacked for gifting and serving.  The only drawback is that they are best served the same or next day for the petals to look their best, but of course they can be stored in the fridge.   

GETTING STARTED

The cookies can be baked ahead of time and freeze well, the glaze only takes a minute to whip up by hand, and then the decorating makes for a wonderful project for all to be involved in, especially during the holidays when there are idle hands that need a craft to get stuck into. 

Take your time ambling through your garden and collecting... I love forage slowly through the backyard, looking for edibles, looking for decorations and thinking of fun ways to arrange the petals and blooms on the cookies, especially knowing that the colours and shapes will stay intact on top of the sugary glaze. 

Gather flowers when they are fresh, dry, and in good condition, morning is usually best, and keep them somewhere cool.  I like to use lemon zest in the dough and lemon juice in the icing, but you can use any type of citrus that you may have, or omit it.   

THE RECIPE

This recipe makes a lot of dough, which freezes well, so you will have more to use at a later date.  The number of cookies depends on what size cutter you use, but this will make 50 - 60 cookies. 

The recipe is quite forgiving, so adjust it to your preferences.  I prefer these when they are made with whole wheat flour, and with an extra addition of almond meal.  This boosts fibre and nutrition, while keeping the blonde colour of the cookie.   

I divide the dough into four sections, wrap them up well, store in the freezer, and then just take out one section to make a batch.  Cooked cookies also store well in the freezer, so you can bake them ahead of time, and then grab what you need later on.  

INGREDIENTS

750g (5 cups) whole wheat flour {or plain}

340g (1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

400g (2 cups) caster sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine salt

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

3-4 teaspoons fine lemon zest {optional}

50g (1/3 cups) almond meal {optional}

Other variations: You could add 50g (1/3 cups) of sesame seeds or poppy seeds, or you could make a spiced cookie by adding some ground cinnamon and nutmeg.  You could use lemon zest or zest from another citrus fruit, such as orange.  

FOR ICING

Pure icing sugar, avoid soft icing sugar

A dash of lemon juice or milk 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (360 degrees F)
2. Combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
3. In a stand-up mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale, then slowly add eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Add the vanilla.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients until combined, and then add the lemon zest.
5. The dough should come together and you can then divide it into sections, wrap tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two. You can leave it in the fridge for up to a week if you would like to bake the cookies later.
6. Clear a space to work with the dough and have some extra plain flour on hand for rolling. If the dough is too sticky, just add some extra flour.  If you {or the kids} handle the dough for too long, it may get too soft, so just pop it back in the fridge to cool again.
7. Roll out the dough until it is as thin as you prefer, about 5mm. Cut into shapes and add to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
8. Bake the cookies for just 5-7 minutes. They really don’t take long, and will stay blonde when they are cooked.  You can let the edges brown a tiny bit.  Don’t worry if they seem a bit soft in the middle, they will set when they cool.  If you like a softer cookie, take them out earlier, and for a crispier cookie, leave them in longer.
9. You must wait for them to cool completely before decorating.
10. I make the icing without a recipe. Simply add some pure icing sugar to a bowl, about 1 cup, and then add a tablespoon of lemon juice {or you can use milk} and a drop of vanilla, mix well until it is thick and smooth. 
11. Add a small amount of icing to each cookie, using a small spoon or butter knife.  Decorate immediately with edible flowers and herbs, and set aside.  The icing will harden, holding the flowers in place and so you can stack the cookies as well.  Best served that day, but can also be kept in the fridge. 

EDIBLE FLOWERS

• Alyssum
• Geranium
• Calendula
• Herbs
• Pansies
• Violas
• Violets
• Borage
• Marigold
• Forget me not
• Chamomile
• Nasturtium
• Pea flowers
• Carnations
• Cornflowers
• Dianthus
• Bougainvillea 
• Rose

I hope you've enjoyed this.  Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

With love,

Elizabeth xx