Dandelion Sugar

I often use flavored sugars to enhance my ability to incorporate really fun flavors into my baked goods. This Dandelion Sugar is perfect for making a variety of dandelion desserts, and looks pretty to boot!

Dandelions have a lovely honey flavor, so I like using this sugar for light, subtle desserts like vanilla cake and shortbread cookies. It will infuse your recipes with its honey-like aroma and add a little hint of yellow to your bakes. It would also be fun in cocktails and mocktails.

You only need two ingredients to make dandelion sugar, but first you’ll need to gather a good amount of flowers. How many flowers? That depends on what your ultimate goal is.

This really isn’t a recipe so much as it’s a ratio: You need one part dandelion petals to one part sugar. And when I say dandelion petals, I mean petals, not whole flowers. You’ll need to separate the petals from the green base of the flower, as that part contains some bitter compounds that are quite unpleasant.

You can make as much dandelion sugar as you please, but here I call for one cup each of petals and sugar to keep things simple. This also happens to make the perfect amount of dandelion sugar for my Ultimate Dandelion Cake.

A note on harvesting dandelions

It’s not too hard to find an abundant patch of dandelions in early spring, but do be intentional about it. Try to harvest your dandelions in an area away from pets, main roads, and any pesticide/herbicide activity. If you have a good amount of them in your own yard and you don’t use any herbicides or have any outdoor pets, you’re very lucky indeed.

Although you will lose some of the pollen (and therefore flavor) by washing your flowers, I still highly recommend it! This will help ensure any tiny bugs, dirt, or other unpleasantries are removed. Then, let them dry before making your dandelion sugar.

Tips for making dandelion sugar

After you’ve given your dandelions a nice little bath, it’s time to separate the petals from the base. This is easy to do, but be prepared that it will take a while. 

There are two ways to do this that are equally effective. One way is to hold the green base of the flower in one hand and twist the petals off with the other hand. Or, you can use a knife to cut the petals off, right above the base. Whatever feels better to you is great!

Then, blend the petals and sugar together in a food processor until they’re finely ground and everything is thoroughly combined. The fresh flower petals will add a lot of moisture to the sugar, so the next step is to dry the sugar out. Pour the dandelion sugar onto a baking sheet and bake on the lowest setting of your oven until dry.

At this point, the sugar will probably be fairly clumpy, so to break it up, you can pour the dried sugar back into the (cleaned and thoroughly dried) food processor. Pulse a few times until the clumps are broken down and the sugar has a fairly even consistency.

Now you’re ready to use the dandelion sugar in a recipe! I highly recommend you try my Ultimate Dandelion Cake, to really get the full dandelion experience.

If you use this dandelion sugar for another dessert or drink recipe, let me know in the comments. I’d love to know what you’re creating with it!