Why You Need to Try Using Pine Needles in Your Cooking

By
Lily F
-
Pine Needles
Photo by Jean Lakosnyk on Unsplash

Many people love the smell of pine needles, and if you’re one of them, you may be interested to know that many pine needles are actually safe to eat. Not only are they safe, they’re actually good for us, being packed full of vitamin C and antioxidants. If you’re curious about trying pine in your food, read on for some advice and recipes.

Before you start pulling pine needles off trees in your local park, read up on which types of needles are safe to eat. Avoid any that are too sharp, or hard and dry, and if you are foraging your own, try and work out if the trees have been recently sprayed with pesticides.

Once you’ve got your pine needles (from the wild or from a specialist store), you’re ready to start incorporating this distinct, herbal flavor into your food.

Pine Muffins

Ingredients (to make 12):

  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 cup of caster sugar
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon of milk
  • 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 5 – 10 pine needles
  • Water

Instructions:

  1. Heat the oven to 330°F and grease and line a muffin tray.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
  3. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then whisk in the eggs and milk.
  4. Pour the batter into the muffin cases and cook for 15 – 20 minutes.
  5. Heat the icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a pan. As it starts to heat, add the pine needles to the icing sugar.
  6. Cook on a medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat, and once the mix has cooled, remove the needles from the icing sugar.
  7. Once the muffins and icing are cool, ice the cakes with the pine-infused icing.

Pine Needle Soda

Ingredients (to serve 4):

  • 2 cups of pine needles, woody ends removed
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups of water

Instructions:

  1. Fill a glass jar with a sealable lid with the water, sugar, pine needles and the juice of the lemon.
  2. Shake vigorously, leave for 10 minutes, then shake again.
  3. Leave the infusion to steep for 12 hours.
  4. Strain the liquid, and then pour over sparkling water or lemonade for some pine flavored fizz.