“Through the dancing poppies stole
A breeze most softly lulling to my soul.”
John Keats
When we were little girls , many many moons ago, a favourite winter pass-time was to make little dolls out of the bright red poppies that grew in our garden. The petals would fold down to make bright red dresses, & the capsule on top would look just like the head. Gave us hours of fascinating pleasure, whiling away time with silliness of this sort.
Cut back to now…a bag of black poppy seeds has been demanding my attention from time to time. In India we get a lot of white poppy seeds, known also as khush–khush, which are often added to kebabs & curries. Black poppy seeds as far as my brain worked, were harvested from fields of poppies grown in Afghanistan to make opium! Was intrigued & pleased as punch when I was the happy recipient of a bag of black poppy seeds from Ukraine. 
And then one day I saw Patricia’s post about Lemon-Poppy Seed Cookies @ Technicolour Kitchen; it had me singing a heady poppy song. I had a mission on my mind & the time was NOW! Dived into the cupboard to locate the bag of poppy seeds, grabbed it, grabbed a sachet of vanilla as well, & began squeezing limes. Time to make these wonderful, citrusy bites.
Since antiquity, poppies have symbolized honor. Women in second century Crete cultivated poppy plants for opium and Hippocrates suggested opium in medicine. Islamic and Arabian countries used opium as a medicine and narcotic in the sixth century. By the 17th century, Asians used the poppy plant as an opiate. Europeans began trafficking the drug in the 19th century, culminating in the Opium Wars, in which China lost control of the industry. The Greeks used the seeds as flavoring for breads in the second century, and medieval Europeans used them as a condiment with breads.
Poppy Seeds are used to flavor breads, cakes, rolls, and cookies in European and Middle Eastern cooking. In Turkey, they are often ground and used in desserts. In India, the seeds are ground and used to thicken sauces. The seeds are also used in noodle, fish, and vegetable dishes in Jewish, German, and Slavic cooking.
What did I like about the recipe? Hmmmmmmm…everything actually. I loved flavouring the sugar.
Very Alice Merdich kind of thing…I did a similar thing for the Orange & Olive Oil Cake below & fell in love with the method! 
The ‘Lime Poppy-seed Cookie’ is an elegant tea cookie, with a beautiful citrus flavour & a crispness that is endearing. It’s also a great cookie to inelegantly throw some nutella or praline-ganache mix on & munch on the go.
Also made for a handsome bite if you sandwiched a pair with chocolate ganache. YUM!! Left the kids begging for more!
Recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies from Patricia Scarpin @ Technicolour Kitchen
Ingredients:
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice (I used lime juice)
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (250g) sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 teaspoons lemon zest (I used lime zest instead)
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds + extra for topping
Ingredients:
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice (I used lime juice)
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (250g) sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 teaspoons lemon zest (I used lime zest instead)
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds + extra for topping
Method:
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Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF; line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
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In a small saucepan, bring lemon juice to a simmer and let reduce by half. Once it has reduced add ½ cup of butter (113g) and let melt, remove from heat and set aside.
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In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In another bowl whisk remaining ½ cup of butter (113g) and 1 cup of sugar (200g) together until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg and melted lemon-butter mixture, beat on medium-high with an electric mixer for 3 minutes, or until very light and pale in color. Mix in vanilla, poppy seeds and 3 teaspoons of lemon zest; once combined, add dry ingredients and mix on low until smooth, you may need to stir in the last 1/3 to 2/3 of a cup by hand. Blend until smooth.
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In a plate, combine the remaining ¼ cup of sugar (50g) with 1 teaspoon of lemon zest – rub the sugar and zest between your fingertips to obtain a lemony sugar. Roll leveled ½ tablespoons of dough into small balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet, 5cm (2in) apart. Using a very slight moist glass, dip the bottom into sugar mixture and flatten cookies, follow by sprinkling a few poppy seeds and a pinch of the sugar+zest mix over the top of each cookie. (I sprinkled on some vanilla sugar as well).
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Bake for 11-12 minutes (mine needed 14) or until perfectly golden around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack.
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Makes 70 (I got about 50 because I think mine were slightly thicker or bigger)
