Adventures in Wild Edibles: Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Dandelion Cookes

The other day, relative cold and dampness had me feeling a bit sluggish.  I longed for afternoon sunshine to burst through the clouds, offering its warming energy, but there was none to be had.  So, I decided to embrace the chill by doing something I refuse to do when it is warm and sunny outside:  heat up the kitchen by baking. 

And not just baking anything.  Rather, I suggested we make Dandelion Cookies!

My daughter and youngest son were all for it.

My daughter has been keen on wild edibles this spring and was eager to try a new-to-us one.

My youngest son likes to explore in the kitchen with me and claims eating is one of his favorite things to do.  He also enjoys being outside.  So, he was psyched with the idea of making cookies from wild edibles.

Thus, outside we went to collect dandelions from our front yard.

Then, in we came, where the kids found ingredients set on the table for a recipe I put together myself, since I could not find any gluten-free, casein-free dandelion cookie recipes online that called for ingredients I already had on hand.

Once inside, we washed the dandelions and pulled the yellow flower bits out of the bitter greens.

We mixed these with the rest of the ingredients...

...popped them into the oven, and baked them for 10-15 minutes.

The result? 

A light lunch:  Cookies that my youngest boy loved, my daughter and other son liked, and that Daddy and I liked, too. (And, yes, cookies can be lunch in our home at times when paired with fruit.)

Each cookie had visible dandelion pieces in every bite, but not a strong dandelion flavor.  (So, we might try the cookies again with even more dandelion flowers next time.)

Here's the recipe we created want to try it:

Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Dandelion-Almond-Coconut Cookies

1/2 cup dandelion flower heads (or more, next time)
3 eggs

1/2 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup almond flour
3 cups shredded coconut

Preheat oven and baking stone to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash flower heads and separate the yellow parts our from the green parts, discarding the green portions.

Mix yellow flowers together with eggs, maple syrup and vanilla.

Add in almond flour and coconut.

Mix well.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a baking stone.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, checking for golden brownness at 10 minutes.

Cook for a few minutes and enjoy!

You might also like recipes from one of our prior adventures with wild edibles.
 

We'd love to hear about your favorite wild edibles and how you prepare them.  Please do share recipes and notes with us in a comment!