Nothing says spring like flowers. With the days lengthening and the weather warming, our backyard is a-buzz with daffodils, flowering trees and bees. We’ve been hard at work preparing our garden and planting the herb beds which include several bushes of new chamomile plants. German Chamomile is our favorite; easy to grow and beautifully ornate when in full bloom.
Not only does chamomile make for an excellent tea but it’s quite delicious in baked goods. As with many aromatic flowering herbs there is a fine line between achieving a delicate, flavorful taste and straight-up face cream. It’s much easier to overdo herbs like lavender or rose in baked goods but I’ve certainly been too heavy handed with chamomile before.
Chamomile Flower Tea Cookies
These cookies are best after a long morning in the garden and with a strong cup of herbal tea. Made of wholesome plant based ingredients, they’re the perfect size for young children. Coconut flour, which is finely ground dried coconut meat, is an excellent alternative to grain-based flour. Arrowroot powder is a starch extracted from the roots of the Arrowroot plant and gives these cookies texture and body. Coconut sugar, which is produced from the flowers of the coconut palm, is still sugar but a slightly better option than refined sugar cane. It’s higher in minerals like iron and zinc and has a lower glycemic index than other table sugars. Depending on where you live coconut sugar may not be available in which powdered sugar will work just as well.
This recipe makes 6 small cookies but could be easily doubled.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of coconut flour
- 2 tbs of arrowroot flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of either coconut sugar or powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup of coconut oil
- 1/4 cup of dried chamomile flowers
- 3 large diced strawberries
Directions:
- In a large saucepan add the coconut oil. Melt the coconut oil over low heat. Once the oil is melted add the dried chamomile flowers. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting and stir very well. Let the oil and flowers steep for 10-15 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350 F.
- While the oil and flowers are steeping combine the coconut flour, sugar, arrowroot powder and salt together. Stir very well.
- After 10-15 minutes, run the oil through a strainer to separate the chamomile. Make sure to pat down the flowers very well to remove the excess oil that they have absorbed.
- Combine the infused chamomile oil and dried ingredients. Mix very well. You will end up with an aromatic ball of dough.
- With the dough, form 6 evenly rounded small cookies.
- Place in the oven for 5-6 minutes watching very carefully to ensure they don’t overbrown.
- Cool and enjoy with a cup of tea.