These Cherry Blossom Cookies are soft, chewy, lightly salty and mildly sweet. A perfect on-the-go snack or with an afternoon/evening tea.
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Cherry blossom season is upon us here in Toronto which means that it is finally spring!!! In Japan the blooming of the cherry blossom trees (sakura) is a time of gathering with loved ones in celebration with lots of food, music and festivals. It’s a pretty big deal. Because the trees only bloom for about a week, it’s a significant reminder of how fragile and short life is. Cherry blossom viewing, known as hamani, is the perfect way to come out of winter with a feeling of being renewed and refreshed.
I like to head down to High Park, take a few snap shots of the pretty pink flowers and have a picnic in the park. There’s one pathway lined with cherry blossom trees, nothing compared to the thousands and thousands in Japan, but it’s nice to enjoy them and it also gives me an excuse to make some cherry blossom treats…
Cherry blossoms are a great addition to desserts or snacks. The flowers and the leaves have a beautiful mild cherry flavour and scent. The flowers usually come preserved in salt. Most Japanese grocery stores will carry them seasonally and I’ve also seen them sold on Amazon but at a much higher cost. I like to purchase mine online here. They always arrive quite fast and are well packaged.
The cherry blossoms come packaged in an envelope with about 30-35 flowers. For this recipe we will use 24 and the leftovers can be used to make cherry blossom tea* which happens to be a nice accompaniment with the cookies!
When removing the cherry blossoms from the package be very careful not to break them. Lay all of the cherry blossoms out on a flat surface and pick out 12 of the best looking flowers. These will be placed on top of the cookies. Then make another group of 12 flowers, these will be chopped up and mixed into the dough.
Since the flowers are heavily salted, soak them in water in two separate bowls (one bowl for the ‘good’ ones and one for the ‘bad’ ones) for at least 30 minutes (no longer than an hour). This will help to remove the saltiness.
Once the flowers have soaked, carefully drain and rinse them and lay them out on a paper towel to dry off the excess water.
Now on to the dough mixture. I should mention that this cookie dough is not a traditional Japanese cookie recipe. Most traditional cherry blossom cookies are butter cookies but these ones are vegan, gluten-free and paleo! In my books, these cookies are actually good for you and like most of my recipes they can be adapted with different flavours.
All you need is 5 ingredients. How easy is that?! Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients. The dough will look crumbly but it should stick together when pressed. Form into balls and place onto a cookie sheet.
Flatten the cookies out with your hand for a rustic look or use a round cookie cutter as a mold and press the dough down inside of the the mold to get an even circle (like below). The thicker the cookie the chewier it will be and the thinner the cookie the more crisp it will be. Add one cherry blossom on top of the cookies and lightly press down.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until they’re a light golden brown around the edges. Be careful to watch them carefully as the bottoms will burn quite quickly if left in too long. Let them cool on a rack and then enjoy! These cookies are soft, chewy, crisp, moist, lightly salty and mildly sweet. A perfect on-the-go snack or with an afternoon/evening tea.
Looking For More Cherry Blossom Recipes?
Or More Cookie Recipes?
- Lemon Ginger Easter Egg Cookies
- Autumn Almond Cookies
- Matcha Christmas Tree Cookies
- Chocolate Coconut Bird Nest Cookies
- Double Chocolate Tahini Cookies
I hope that you enjoy these cookies and have a wonderful spring. Happy eating always!
Cherry Blossom Almond Flour Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 24 salt preserved cherry blossoms
Instructions
prep cherry blossoms
- Pick out 24 cherry blossoms, 12 that are nicely shaped and not damaged and 12 that are oddly shaped, very small or have lost a lot of petals. The nicely shaped ones will be used on top of the cookies as decoration and the oddly shaped ones will be chopped up and put inside of the cookies.
- Place all of the cherry blossoms into a bowl of water and soak for 20 minutes. After they've soaked strain the water. Gently lay out each flower on a paper towel or clean dish towel. Take the 'good' cherry blossoms and gently pat dry so that most of the moisture is gone. Set aside. Take the 'bad' cherry blossoms and pat dry. Chop them into small pieces and set aside.
cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl mix the almond flour and baking soda. Add the chopped cherry blossoms and stir. Next add the coconut oil and maple syrup and stir until combined. The dough should have a crumbly texture that sticks together when pressed.
- Take 1 tablespoon full of dough and with your hands roll into a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Place the cookies about 2" apart. Once you have all the cookies on the sheet flatten them out. The thinner the cookie the more crisp it will be and the thicker the cookie the more chewy it will be. I like to make these about 1/2" thick (for a chewy cookie). To flatten the cookies you can either use your hand (or the bottom of a glass) for a rustic look or use a round cookie cutter as a mold and press the dough down inside it to get a uniform shape (I used a round mold in this recipe).
- Place one cherry blossom on top of each cookie gently pressing down. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes checking to make sure they don't overbake. If they're thin they will take a few minutes less and vice versa. They should have a light golden colour around the edges when done. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack. They can last up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge or they can be frozen for up to three months. Enjoy!
Notes
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