Lemon Balm Poppy Seed Cookies

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Make sweet lemon balm cookies full of crunchy poppy seeds for refreshing herbal dessert!

This is the perfect cookie to feature the fresh lemon balm leaves from your herb garden. 

Full of lemon flavor and easy to make, these are great for sharing with friends near and far and will give you plenty of excuses to make frequent trips your herb garden. 

Baking with Fresh Herbs

Over the years, I’ve experimented a bunch with baking desserts from my herb garden and have learned a few tricks.

First, be sure to chop the lemon balm as finely as your patience will allow. The more surface area, the greater the flavor. Also, no one wants a giant green leaf in their dessert. 

Second, beat the butter and chopped herbs together well. An electric mixer makes this much easier than any other method. The more the two are beaten together the better the flavor in my experience. 

For best flavor, do use lemon balm before it flowers.

Make Big Batches

Because lemon balm is a member of the mint family, it tends to be quite productive, almost invasive. Feel free to make these cookies starting with the first lemon balm of the season and continuing on until fall.

If you want something beyond cookies, check out my favorite sweet and savory lemon balm recipes.

This way you can share bags of lemon balm cookies at parties and picnics and even mail them to family in other states. 

These are also great for selling at farm stands or summer charity bake sales. 

Some Make Ahead Tips

If you’ve got a bunch of lemon balm you want to use up now but don’t feel like baking – make the compound butter and save it for later.

Simply beat together the 1/2 cup butter and lemon balm until well combined. Then scrape it out of the bowl onto a large piece of wax paper. 

Wrap it up well and place inside an airtight container. Then refrigerate for up to a week or freeze up to 6 months. 

Let the butter come to room temperature and proceed with beating it the sugar and continuing on with the recipe as written. 

Optional Additions

The recipe includes poppy seeds as a play on the traditional lemon and poppy seed combination. Feel free to skip that if it’s not your thing.

A tablespoons of lemon zest beaten with the butter would increase the lemon flavor, if you have some on hand. I skip that to keep it herbal.

A cup of white chocolate chips might be nice as well.

Add some vanilla or lemon frosting for an even sweeter dessert. 

How to Serve

Like all cookies, these are a dessert in and of themselves. Serve with some milk, coffee, or tea and call it good. 

They are delightful served with vanilla ice cream on a hot summer day, too!

Eat them with some iced tea and enjoy a quiet moment to yourself on the porch. 

How to Store

Keep any leftover cookies in an airtight container where they should stay fresh for up to 5 days.

For longer term storage, freeze cookies in containers or plastic bags. Thaw frozen cookies at room temperature prior to serving.

Eat up any frozen cookies with 6 months for best flavor. 

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