Clementine Dandelion Bread

INGREDIENTS
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups dandelion petals
1/2 cup olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 clementine
3/4 cup honey
3 eggs
2 2/3 cups milk

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine dry ingredients, including dandelion petals, in large bowl.
• In separate bowl mix milk, beaten eggs, honey and vegetable oil.
• Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into two greased bread pans.
• Bake for 45 - 55 minutes. Check for doneness. Toothpick should come out clean. If not done, put back in the oven, check every 5 minutes.

Clementine Syrup (Optional)
Zest & Juice of 2 Clementines
1 cup Powdered Sugar

Heat in small sauce pan over medium/high heat stirring often, so it doesn't burn, bring to boil. Boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

While bread is still in the pan, poke the breads with a small straw. Drizzle syrup over the holes, making sure all of the top has been saturated with the syrup. Leave the breads in their pans so all of the syrup soaks in to the bread. Remove from pan, Slice, and ENJOY! :)

OK, Let's face it, this sounds weird! I admit that I was a little skeptical when I first heard people talking about using Dandelions for food. But then I went to an Herb Class at my friends house and one of the items on the list was Dandelions. I found out that day that they are a great source of Vitamin A. Sweet!

As soon as I got home from the class I went straight to my yard and started plucking off the flowers so I could make bread. Now I will say you have to be careful not to pick any that have been doused with weed killer or and chemical. Luckily we don't do that in our yard, we just don't want that in our ground anywhere near our garden. It was quite fun picking them, my husband even got in on the fun :).

I washed them all, drained out the water, and then started clipping off the top flower part. You need to clip right above the base of the flower so when you "fluff" up the petals they all separate. This can take a little time, but it is so worth it when you pull this beautiful bread out of the oven.

Now this is not a really sweet bread. So if you want it a little sweeter, I would suggest making the bread into a poke cake and drizzling the Clementine Syrup on the top and sides. If you want to keep this as a light tasting bread, you can leave off the syrup and just slice it up, spread a little butter on top and ENJOY! It is great either way!

Personally I like it without the syrup, because I can make the bread sugar free (for me). But I also made it with the syrup and gave one to my friend who taught the Herb Class and then took one to church. Let's just say...there were no left overs :)

On a funny side note, the next day my hubby and I were leaving for church and noticed that our yard was full of Dandelions again. My hubby said "It's like we didn't even pick 'em" to which I replied "I guess we are going to be making a lot of bread this spring" LOL