Edible Chocolate Pinecones | Recipe by My Name Is Snickerdoodle (2024)

FAQs

What pine cones are edible? ›

Humans can eat seeds from particular pine cones, including Sugar Pine, Western White Pine, Longleaf Pine, Red Pine, and Pitch Pine. Species unsafe to eat include Ponderosa Pine, Yellow Pine, Lodgepole Pine, and Norfolk Island Pine. Not enough is known about these species to consider them safe for human consumption.

Pinecones in general are rich in dietary fiber and vitamin C and in some cultures are ground for use as a flour replacement.

How To Identify Edible Pine Needles? Edible pine needles are typically found on young pine trees and feature a bright, fresh green color. Needles of the correct species will have a slightly sour or tangy taste and a fragrant pine aroma.

Once the pine nut is separated from the cone and shelled, your work is easy: Just eat them! Pine nuts don't need any special preparation and can be eaten as is, like most other nuts and seeds.

yes you can eat the whole pine cone. the taste is sweet and a little bit foresty. it's honestly spectacular. if you want to know how to make it.

How do I clean pine cones before using them? To clean pine cones, you can either bake them in a low-temperature oven (around 200°F) for 30-45 minutes to kill any insects and remove moisture, or freeze them in an airtight bag or container for at least 24 hours.

As far as my knowledge goes, all species in the Pinus genus are edible, though some do have cautions regarding pregnancies, mostly stemming from livestock consuming large amounts of pine.

Male pine cones do not make the hard-shelled woody case like the female pine cones do. They are soft and spongy. Female pine cones use their woody structure to keep their seeds safe. They keep their seeds safe so the seeds can hopefully be pollinated and grow.

I've used white pine, red pine, balsam fir, eastern hemlock, Norway spruce, and red spruce and gotten a whole suite of equally sultry but subtly nuanced syrups. Collect your cones in spring and summer when they're green, tender, and still on the tree.

So while there are whole pine cones in the finished syrupy concoction, they're easy to chew. Often consumed by the spoonful, the preserves have a distinct forest flavor, and even the most ardent tree-huggers may be unable to shake the association with Pine-Sol.