These soft, buttery cookies with Japanese salt pickled cherry blossoms give you a taste of early spring with delicate salty-sweet, floral flavors.
What is Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms ?
Salt-pickled cherry blossoms or sakura-no-shio-zuke are spring tradition in Japan. Cherry blossoms (sakura) are harvested in spring and preserved in salt and sometimes plum vinegar. They’re used in traditional Japanese sweets like mochi, teas, and even savory dishes like sushi.
When I lived in Japan, I used to enjoy sakura-cha or sakura tea. This “tea” is really one or two of these blossoms in a cup of hot water. It taste like tangy, salty hot water, but you get to see and enjoy beautiful cherry blossoms open up inside the tea cup!
You can easily make these edible blossoms as long as you have fresh cherry blossoms on-hand (which most people don’t!). Don’t worry, you can get them through Amazon, where I purchased my supply. These blossoms from Japan were fresh, bright pink and plump!
How to Use Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms
Before you incorporate these blossoms into baked treats or savory dishes, you need to soak them in water for 30 minutes to remove excess salt. Gently squeeze out excess water, then pat dry with a paper towel.
For this shortbread recipe, you need one ounce of cherry blossoms. Once cherry blossoms are dried, pick out eighteen good, plump blossoms to decorate your cookies. Rest will be chopped to be incorporated into the shortbread dough.
How to Make this Delicious Shortbread
- Beat the butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Next, add vanilla extract and chopped cherry blossoms to combine.
- Add flour to the bowl gradually until well combined but do not over mix the dough.
- Form a dough into a 7½” log, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 1-24 hours.
If the dough is too hard to slice, leave it on the counter for 5-10 minutes until it softens.
- Cut dough into ¼” slices and space them apart on baking sheet. Decorate each cookie with a cherry blossom, gently pressing them down on the dough.
- Bake cookies in 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes or until cookie bottoms turn light golden brown.
Celebrate Early Spring with Tea and Cherry Blossom Shortbread
There’s something special about welcoming early spring with a cup of sakura tea and a plate of cherry blossom shortbread cookies. For this occasion, I served them on my Burleigh ware—Pink Felicity and Grey Felicity pieces—that highlight the soft, romantic tones of the cookies and make the tea time feel even more charming!
More Cookie Recipes
- Hearts and Roses Shortbread Cookies
- Lemon Pâte Sucrée Cookies
- Cookies with Sage and Candied Oranges
- Orange Blossom Bunny Cookies
- Strawberry Jam Cookies
Cherry Blossom Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 oz salted pickled cherry blossoms
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak cherry blossoms in water for 30 minutes. Gently squeeze out excess water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Choose 18 good blossoms for cookie decoration and set aside. Chop remaining cherry blossoms for blending in the cookie dough.
- Combine flour and salt in a small bowl and set it aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and chopped cherry blossoms to combine.
- Add flour to the bowl gradually until well combined but do not over mix. Form dough into a 7½" log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1-24 hours in the fridge.
- Take the dough out of fridge. If the dough is too hard, set it aside for 10-15 minutes so it can soften. In the meantime, preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut dough into ¼" slices and space them apart on baking sheet. Decorate each cookie with a cherry blossom and gently press it down on the dough. Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes or until cookie bottoms turn light golden brown. Let cookies cool on a cooling rack.