These festive foraged conifer needle shortbread cookies are perfect for the holidays! They're crisp and crumbly, the perfect recipe for a real food cookie swap, homemade food gift, or a sweet treat for your family.
Finely mince the conifer needles. It may be easiest to pulse them a few times in a food processor or blender.
Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg yolk, orange juice and orange zest, and stir to combine. Then add the flour, arrowroot, minced conifer needles, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
Gently stir everything together until the dough barely holds together. It will seem a bit floury, but that’s ok. Take the dough out of the bowl and use your hands to form it into a flat disk.
Wrap it up in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm. You can store the dough for several days in the fridge, or for several weeks in the freezer if need be.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 300°F.
Roll out the dough onto a floured board to about 1/4 inch thick, and use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes. You can alternatively shape the dough into a log before refrigerating it, and then slice the cookies into rounds.
Put the cut cookies onto a parchment (or silicone mat) lined cookie sheet about an inch or so apart. If you want to get fancy and have a pretty garnish on your cookies, gently press a redwood (or other conifer) tip into the top of the cookie.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges. The centers will still be just barely soft. These were done right at 25 minutes, so keep a close watch on them after that. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a bit on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Any edible conifer needle works in this recipe, such as pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, or redwood.
Do not use the Yew family of trees, as they are highly toxic.