These four-ingredient flower cookies are surprisingly simple to make! They're rich, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth, with a simple shortbread base. Adding edible flowers to the cookies was inspired by Sophie's collection of 1970s cookbooks, where it's featured many times.

For some more sweet shortbread recipes, try earl grey shortbread cookies, cranberry pistachio shortbread, and filled chocolate sandwich cookies.

Round cookies with flowers baked into the tops, top down view.
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Ingredients

Flower cookie ingredients with labels.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Butter: use a good vegan butter than comes in a stick or block form, like Miyoko's, to make vegan flower cookies.
  • Sugar: plain white sugar will make for a more neutral cookie. For something with a little more flavour and texture, use golden cane sugar. You can try vanilla sugar for a bit of a boost too.
  • Flour: use plain white flour, pastry flour, or whole wheat pastry flour.

Method

Flower cookies steps 1 to 4, making the shortbread base and with flowers added.

Step 1: in a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.

Step 2: slowly mix in the pastry flour until just combined.

Step 3: flatten the dough into a disk. Chill it in the fridge for at least an hour. After chilling, roll the cookie dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the rolled dough into desired shapes.

Step 4: top each cookie with edible flowers and/or herbs. When all the cookie tops are decorated, lightly roll the rolling pin over the dough to make sure the flowers have adhered to the cookies. Chill the cookies again, then bake for about 10 minutes.

Top Tips

  • Chill the dough: chilling the flower cookie dough gives the fat time to solidify, and gives the flour time to hydrate. Both of these factors make for a cookie that will spread less, which reduces the risk of burnt edges.
  • Don't worry about the flowers burning: as long as you use fresh flowers they should be fine because the cookies don't bake for that long.
  • Use dark flowers: we find that orange and purple edible flowers tend to hold their colour the best.

Recipe Notes

Edible flowers can be purchased at many grocery stores and farmers' markets, but make sure they're labeled as such. See Sophie's article all about edible flowers for more information on what to choose and how to grow your own!

If the dough feels dry, like it won't come together, work it at the end with your hands. We promise you, all of the flour will mix in! You just have to be patient. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to do the work for you.

Baking time depends on the size you cut your flower cookies. We used a 2 ½ inch (6.5 cm) round cookie cutter for the cookies in this post.

FAQ

Can you bake fresh flowers?

The right flowers can be baked right into cookies, breads, and more. It'll depend on baking time and how the item is baked, but flowers work well for cookies and more.

What is the best flowers to bake?

Brightly coloured edible flowers work best, as they keep their colour after baking. Purples like pansies and borage are excellent, and orange flowers like calendula.

Can you eat all rose petals?

While all varieties of rose are edible, not all petals are safe to eat. They have to be labeled as edible or grown yourself without the use of floral pesticides or fungicides, which are used at much higher levels for flowers than foods, and aren't safe to consume.

If you make this Flower Cookie recipe or any other cookie recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Round cookies with flowers baked into the tops, top down view.
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Flower Cookies

These four-ingredient flower cookies are surprisingly simple to make! Though vegan, they’re rich, "buttery", and melt in your mouth.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Chilling Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 50 minutes
Yield: 10 cookies

Equipment

  • Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
  • Mixing bowl
  • Hand mixer
  • Plastic wrap or bees wax wraps
  • Cookie cutter
  • Rolling Pin
  • Wire rack
  • Spatula

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups plain flour or pastry flour
  • Edible flowers

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
    ¾ cup butter, ½ cup sugar
  • Slowly add the flour, about ¼ cup (37 grams) at a time, mixing until just combined between each addition (you may want to use your hands to help it come together at the end).
    2 cups plain flour or pastry flour
  • Flatten it into a disk. Wrap it with cling film (or a reusable alternative such as bees wax wraps) and chill it in the fridge for at least one hour.
  • After the dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ¼-inch (½-cm) thick. Cut the dough into desired shapes (we used a 2-½ inch (6-½ cm) round cookie cutter).
  • Garnish each cookie with edible flowers and/or herbs. When all of the cookie tops are decorated, lightly roll the rolling pin over the dough to make sure all the flowers have adhered to the cookies.
  • Return the cookies to the refrigerator and chill for another 30 minutes.
  • To bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
  • Bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, depending on or until lightly golden around the edges.
  • Cool cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 112mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 432IU | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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