Lavender Shortbread Cookies

I absolutely have a love affair with lavender!  It’s one of my favorite scents in lotions and soaps as well as one of my favorite herbs to cook and bake with.  I adore this unique and beautiful herb so much you’d think I were French!  (Actually, Ranger Craig is French so I suppose I’m French by marriage)

Lavender can be used in savory dishes as well as baked sweets.  I use it in chicken salad, on roasted chicken, in vinaigrettes, mixed with pepper and sprinkled over fish, and in these divine little shortbread cookies.  Honestly, I use it whenever I can!  It’s now a running snicker in my house when one of my family members tastes a little lavender in the food.  Yes, Mom found another use for her large stash of lavender buds. 

This lovely herb has a most unique scent and when used for baking or cooking, adds the most delicate flavor to a dish.  It almost feels like a special treat to taste this delicious little cookie with a hint of lavender. 

I especially love these shortbread cookies with tea or with my morning coffee.  They also make a lovely dessert for a brunch, or a sweet gift for a special teacher or friend.  Add a little fun to the cookie and drizzle with a quick icing of powdered sugar, lemon juice and a drop of purple food coloring.  You can find the purple food coloring in the “neon” collection of food colors in your grocers baking aisle.  

Enjoy a quiet moment with some tea and a few of these delicious lavender shortbread cookies!  (And pretend you’re in France!)

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen 

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

3 teaspoons dried lavender

2/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour (or a gluten-free baking mix)

1 egg

 Directions

Pulse together in a spice mill or coffee grinder ¼ sugar and the dried lavender.  In a food processor add the butter, sugar, lavender sugar, salt and egg.  Pulse a few times to blend and then add the flour.

Pulse the mixture just until it’s nicely blended.  Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and work into a rectangular shape.  Roll the dough into a log, or two logs, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Cut the logs into ½ inch coins and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden in color.  As soon as they come out of the oven sprinkle with a dusting of sugar.

OPTION: If you’d like to frost the cookies, mix together some powdered sugar with a little lemon juice or water until it reaches a good consistency for drizzling.  Add one little drop of purple food coloring and mix.

NOTE:  For gluten-free cookies it may not be possible to roll, refrigerate and cut.  However, you can these make drop cookies using a gluten-free flour mix. 

When the cookies have cooled, lightly drizzle the icing on the cookie making little stripes or circles, whatever makes you happy!