Edible flower biscuits recipe

The tulips, camomile and rose petals used in these beautiful edible flower biscuits all help with stress. They're the perfect gift for friends or relatives who could do with a little perking up.

Our edible flower biscuits taste amazing and are sure to boost your mood. We’ve got more suggestions for mood-boosting foods here. This recipe is really an homage to one of our favourite cooks, Juliet Sear, who pioneered the use of edible flowers in her baking.

The basic shortbread biscuit mix is lovely and simple so you should have fun experimenting with different herbs, flowers or flavours when you try them at home. If you wanted to make a very sophisticated version of these biscuits, you could make whole circles instead of rings and add a single pressed flower to the top each. They would make amazing party favours.

Ingredients

• 200g salted butter, at room temperature
• 200g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 drop lemon or orange extract
• 1 egg
• 375g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 camomile teabags

For the decoration:

• 250g royal icing sugar
• Mix of rinsed fresh petals, set aside in a bowl with 15g caster sugar

You will need:

• 2 baking trays lined with parchment
• Round or fluted cookie cutters
• Piping bag or a sandwich bag with the corner cut

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. By hand or using a mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and citrus extract until combined. Gently beat in the egg.
2. Tip in the flour and split open the teabags. Mix in both until a dough forms.
3. Dust the work surface with a little flour then roll out the pastry to a thickness of around 5mm.
4. Cut out as many shapes as you can. You can re-roll any excess pastry trimmings and use that too. Place the cookies on the baking trays and bake for about 12 mins, until pale golden and firm. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. To decorate, mix the icing sugar in a bowl with 3-4tsp water until a soft peak consistency. Place into a piping bag and cover the biscuits. Sprinkle the sugared petals on while still damp and allow to dry out.