18 Nebraskaland • May 2023
Dandelion and honey fritters. JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
DANDELION AND HONEY FRITTERS
The first time I tested this recipe,
the fritters tasted a bit bitter. I got
lazy and left the sepals — the green
bottom part of a flower — which
can impart a bitter taste. This time,
I picked only the yellow parts and
discarded the sepals, and voila — no
bitter aftertaste! Picking dandelion
petals can get tedious, but you only
need a heaping cup's worth. If you
have kids around, put them to work. A
little bit of green is unavoidable, and
that's OK. You just want to make sure
to get most of it.
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
•
1 heaping cup of dandelion
flowers, sepals (green parts)
removed
•
1 cup of all-purpose flour
•
¼ cup of demerara sugar, or to
taste
•
1½ teaspoons of baking powder
•
1
⁄3 to ½ cup of whole milk
•
1 large egg
•
½ teaspoon of poppy seeds
•
Vegetable/canola oil for frying
Honey-Lemon Glaze
•
½ cup of honey
•
Grated zest of 1 lemon
•
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1. In a deep-frying pan, heat oil
to 350° Fahrenheit. While the oil is
heating, combine dandelion flowers,
flour, sugar, baking powder and poppy
seeds in a bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat an
egg and
1
⁄3 cup of milk. Add it to the
dry ingredients and stir to combine —
do not overwork the batter. Add more
milk if the mixture looks dry. The
mixture should neither be as runny
as pancake batter nor be as dense as
bread dough — look for a wet batter
that's in between.
3. With a large spoon, drop batter
into the hot oil, making six equal-size
globs. Adjust heat as needed, trying
to keep the oil temperature between
300-325°. The fritters shouldn't touch
while frying, so fry them in batches if
necessary. When the first side turns
golden brown, flip and fry the other
side. Use a toothpick to check for
doneness — if it comes out clean,
it's cooked through. Drain on paper
towels or a cooling rack.
4. Combine glaze ingredients and
microwave for a few seconds to warm
through. Glaze the fritters all over.
Serve warm with leftover glaze on the
side. Since the fritter itself isn't too
sweet, I like to spoon on more honey
with each bite.
IN THE FIELD
