Nettle cookies are sweet from matcha icing and fresh from lemon zest, making them a perfect treat. They are made with almond flour, which brings a delightful airiness to every bite.

Stinging nettle is a proper powerhouse—packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. While it’s usually seen in savoury dishes as a spinach stand-in, we thought: why not a cookie? These light and airy nettle cookies are a sweet surprise, bringing together earthy greens, zingy lemon zest, and a hint of umami from matcha icing.

Nettle’s been used for everything from natural fertiliser to remedies for osteoarthritis (nettle health benefits reference), but we love it most when it sneaks into everyday food in unexpected ways – like dessert. Bonus: they’re a great way to get more greens into kids (or adults who still eat like kids). No matcha? No problem. These are just as good without the icing too.

For more nettle recipes, see Nettle infusion and Countrypolitan – stinging nettle cocktail.

If you are a matcha fan, you might also like our Strawberry Matcha Overnight Oats (High-Protein).

What you’ll need to make the nettle cookies

Fresh nettle leaves – Forage for young nettle before it starts to produce seeds. Read more about stinging nettle foraging tips in the section below.
White caster sugar and brown sugar – Combining the two will result in cookies with a slightly chewy texture.
Matcha – Both, ceremonial, or food-grade matcha will be fine, as only a little bit is needed.
Cold butter – We are using vegan butter, but any butter will do.
Almond flour and white flour – Combining the two will result in a light and airy cookie texture.
Baking powder and baking soda – Help the cookies to rise in the baking process.
Zest of one lemon – Lifts up the nettle and matcha flavors with its citrusy notes.
Powdered sugar, soy milk (any other milk will work just as well), and Matcha powder – Create a simple and delicious matcha icing for glazing the cookies once they’ve cooled down.

Instructions

Stinging nettle

Boil enough water to cover all the nettle with it – it will quickly wilt in the boiled water, similar to spinach, therefore you do not need a huge pot. While the water is heating up, prepare an ice bath (ideally a soup plate with ice cubes), where you can place the blanched nettle to cool it down. Place the nettle in the boiling water and simmer for 1 – 2 minutes on a medium heat. This technique is called blanching.
Then quickly drain the nettle and place it in the ice bath. The aim is to completely cool down the nettle, so make sure that is it covered in ice water or ice. Blanching stinging nettle is a great way of getting rid of the sting, while preserving its colour and nutrients.
Once the nettle has cooled down, place it in a food processor and mix until a paste has formed. Set aside.

Mix together butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy.
Add in the nettle and mix until the nettle has been equally distributed. Then add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. You do not want to over-mix this mixture, which would lead to the gluten becoming very developed and the cookies loosing their airiness.
Cover with cling foil and put in the fridge for at least 30 mins, this is important to prevent the cookies from spreading out whilst baking. This dough does not contain eggs and can therefore also be made a day or two in advance of baking.

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat, or parchment paper.
Get the nettle cookie dough out of the fridge. Roll out the balls and place them on the baking sheet. We like to weigh them so they come out in equal sizes and we opted for 30 grams, which is a cute two-bit-sized cookie.
Don’t stack them too close, as they will spread out a little bit during baking.

Matcha icing

Add the powdered sugar in a small bowl and slowly add in the sugar, starting with one tablespoon. Add in the matcha powder and mix well a spoon. We are not looking for a royal icing consistency here, but want the icing to be slightly more liquidy, which creates lovely dripping effect. if you want the icing to be more controllable you can add less milk.
Spoon half a spoon of icing on the top of each cookie. Or, if you prefer, dip the cookies in the icing one by one.
For the final touch, forage some edible flowers and put on top. When unsure if a flower is edible, we suggest using a Google image search – and only ingesting it if you are 100 % sure it’s safe to eat.

Stinging nettle foraging tips

It should be pretty easy to identify the stinging nettle as it has little hairs that will sting you. But you should do ample research with foraging any wild plant before ingesting it.
Wear gloves to prevent getting stung.
Only forage nettle in non-polluted and clean areas, as nettle is a filter and absorbs any pesticides or chemicals from the soil and surroundings.
Only forage young nettles (nettle leaves) before they started developing seeds.

Plate with nettle cookies glazed with matcha icing and decorated with flowers

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