Editor

Here is a recipe for a delicious spring tonic treat.

Pick dandelions with short stems – they are not as mature. Make sure they are from an unsprayed area not too close to a road. Snip or pinch the base and pull out the yellow petals – you don’t want the bitter green parts. You will need a loosely packed cupful.

Whirl 1 cup of old fashioned oats in the blender or food processor to make a coarse meal. Combine with 1 cup spelt or white flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and blend well.

In a separate bowl stir 1 stick of softened butter together with 1 egg, either chicken or duck egg will do. Add 1 tablespoon honey and 1/4 cup agave syrup. 1/2 tsp. vanilla or a 1/4 tsp. lemon extract may be added if desired.

Add the dry ingredients and the dandelion petals. Sometimes I also include 1/4 cup chopped lemon balm.

Mix only till well blended, chill in the freezer for an hour, and then roll the dough into a log, wrap in parchment paper and freeze.

Whenever you want cookies, heat the oven to 375, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and slice off rounds of frozen cookie dough. Depending on how thinly you slice, they will be done in eight or ten minutes… watch them closely and remove when they begin to brown around the edges.

Do not bake these cookies for a road trip. Dandelions will make you pee. Unlike most diuretics, they provide more potassium than they remove, and are considered an excellent tonic for the liver.