Thursday, July 23, 2009

Dandelion Apple cookies


First you find a dandelion.

Actually, you need many dandelions, about 3/4 of a lawn will do. You are going to pick approximately a cup of dandelion flowers. Enlist a 5-year-old to help pick them - his mother will love you for the rest of the day... Then you rip the little petals off the green part. Thereby hopefully ending up with 1/2 c. of petals.
Round up a couple of apples. Core them, but leave the skin on.
Dig out your jar of raisins. If they are a little dried up, it's OK. The raisin police aren't on duty today.
Got nuts? Look in your freezer. That's where I told you to keep them, remember?
Negotiate with your local bee union for a couple tablespoons of honey. Rummage through the spice shelf and find that pumpkin pie spice left from last November. If you can't find it, never mind, cinnamon will do. And if you don't have cinnamon, shame on you.

OK. Now you are ready.

Dust off your food processor and throw in:
3 cups apple chunks
1/2 c. nuts
1 T. honey (and a bit more if your apples are pruney and raisins are dry)
1/4 c. raisins
1 T. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
Now pulse to chop and mix. Not too fine, this isn't soup, but not too coarse either. This is mama bear chop.
Dump into a bowl, and stir in:
1/2 c. dandelion petals
This will be a loose, rather wet mix. Now you are going to make cookies. Yes, you are.

If you have a food dehydrator, shape mounds of the mix, a heaping tablespoon at a time, on the mesh trays. I know, it's gooshey. Do it anyway. Dry for at least 8 hours. If your dehydator has a thermostat, you want it to be at 105 degrees. Otherwise, just go for it.
If they aren't dry enough, continue drying until you think they resemble cookies.




If you DON'T have a dehydrator, an oven works just dandy. And quicker. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchement. Form the mounds of mixture. Bake at 275 for about 25-35 minutes, maybe longer - until the cookies are firmed up and sort of dry. Yeah, doncha just love these "sort of" recipes...




They actually do hold together. Have faith.



It is SO a cookie. Have I ever led you astray? Just because it doesn't have flour, sugar, eggs, butter or milk, doesn't mean it can't be a cookie. Some cookies just lead a cleaner life than others...

You'll like them, I promise.

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