Our return to Iowa was just in time to enjoy our blooming lilacs, so I headed to our back yard to pick some…and the fragrance of that beautiful lilac bouquet was the perfect “Welcome Home” to the Heartland!
The very next morning, a newspaper article caught my eye. It was a recipe for some unusual scones. Scones made with the addition of lilac petals!
I was absolutely intrigued, but I was not in the mood to grab my rolling pin to bake up a batch of scones. So I started looking online to see if anyone had posted a recipe for something simpler made with lilac petals…and BINGO! I found a recipe for Lilac Cornmeal COOKIES on a great website called Homespun Seasonal Living so I decided to think outside the box head to the kitchen to assemble the ingredients for these unique cookies.
First I creamed together the softened butter and the sugar.
Next I added the pure vanilla extract and the egg.
Next came the flour and the salt.
Then I added the corn meal.
And I mixed well.
Then picked off some fresh flower petals from our fragrant old lilac bush.
The blooming season was almost over and I had to search to find enough fresh petals to use.
I gently folded the flower petals into the cookie dough.
The colors were deliciously delightful, don’t you agree?
I flattened the cookies with a glass dipped in sugar…
And I left enough room on each sheet pan to allow the cookies to spread a little. (I baked my cookies on a Silpat sheet to prevent sticking.)
And into the oven they went!
The results were delicious!
Those amazing cookies were crispy and crunchy and sweet. In fact, they were so yummy I quickly stirred up another batch!
My only regret?
Lilac season is now over for another year! (Sad Emoji!)
Lilac Cornmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Butter Softened
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg
- 3/4 Cup Flour
- 3/4 Cup Cornmeal
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Lilac Blossoms Just the blossoms pulled from the stem, No green parts
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 325 Degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix well. Fold in the lilac blossoms. Using a cookie scoop (I used a heaping teaspoon) drop the cookies about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie with a glass dipped in sugar to prevent sticking. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks before devouring.
Recipe Notes
Special Thanks to Kathie N. Lapcevic of homespunseasonalliving.com for allowing me to share this unique recipe with all of you!
This is such a neat idea. Jan was a lilac grower all of his active life as a flower nursery owner. He was a 5th generation. Forcing lilacs is becoming a dying art. It is hard, heavy work even tho there are now quite a few technical inventions that make the work easier. I will definately make this cookie for special occassions. (Jan is the cookie baker) This will be right down his alley.
Did you know you can get a special lilac fertilizer you can buy to put in the water so the lilacs will last longer when cut an put in a vase.
take care, marye
What great information you’ve shared Marye…all the way from Holland! Thanks so much for your comments. I would LOVE to see the flowers and canals that are right outside your door…:-) Keep reading…and keep your thoughts and comments coming! 🙂
XOXO
Meemaw
My lilacs are still blooming. It is my turn for snacks after church this Sunday. I am going to try these and have something new and unique. The cinnamon tortillas, my little one finally tried it and liked it. Sent home enough for all the family. I was wondering on the brand you bought. Mine didn’t get air pockets like yours except one. If more had, I think it added to the lightness and crunch. Thank you, xoxo, dynna
I hope you like them Dynna…They are certainly unique! And about those cinnamon tortillas…The hotter the oven the faster those tortillas will puff up. Try increasing the baking temp. Or you might place them on a cookie cooling rack on the cookie sheet to bake so the heat and air get under them too…try that! I find they are the most tasty when they are still warm from the oven. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
XOXO
Meemaw
I had no idea you could cook with or eat lilacs-wow they look wonderful!
LOL! We’re NEVER too old to learn something new…Right Linda? These cookies were really GOOD!
Happy Baking!
XOXOX
Meemaw