Bake Lavender and Lemon Cookies
We know that lavender plants make beautiful and fragrant flowers, but we sometimes forget that lavender is also an herb. This recipe makes use of fresh lavender to transform lemon shortbread cookies into a delicious and unique cookie.
Contents
Ingredients
Servings: 18 to 24
- 2 tbsp. fresh lavender flowers
- 1/4 lb. (100 g) butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 tsp. lemon zest, grated
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Steps
Prepare the Lavender
- Obtain your lavender.
- Try picking your lavender just before you use it so that it has the freshest possible taste. Choose blossoms that have the fullest color and pass over any that are wilted or less robust.
- Immerse the blooms in a bowl of cool water to remove any insects or soil.
- Place the lavender between two paper towels and dab the blooms until they are dry. Alternatively, you can place the blooms in a salad spinner as long as you spin them slowly and gently.
- Place the lavender in a mortar and pestle and grind the flowers with the pestle until the leaves become fragrant.
Prepare the Dough
- Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream the mixture on medium speed using either a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer.
- Add the honey and lemon juice. Continue mixing until the ingredients are incorporated.
- Add the flour and lemon zest to the mixing bowl. Knead the ingredients with your clean hands until a dough forms.
- Sprinkle flour onto a work surface.
- Roll out the dough using a rolling pin until it is about 1/4” thick.
- Scatter the lavender flowers over the dough. Using the rolling pin, press the flowers into the dough.
- In essence, the dough for lavender and lemon cookies is a shortbread dough. You won’t actually add the lavender until after you have rolled out the dough.
Cut Out and Bake the Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dip a round cookie cutter into some flour. This will keep it from sticking to the dough as you cut out your cookies.
- While the instructions call for a round cookie cutter, you can use cookie cutters of any shape according to your preference.
- Press the cookie cutter into the dough until you’ve cut out a cookie. Place the cookie onto the baking sheet.
- Continue cutting out cookies. Place the cookies about 1-1/2” apart on the baking sheet so that they have some room to spread.
- Bake the cookies for 7 to 10 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven. Allow them to cool on the stovetop for 2 minutes.
- Loosen the cookies from the parchment paper with a spatula. Place the cookies on wire racks and allow them to completely cool.
- Serve the cookies with hot or iced herbal tea.
Tips
- If you have no cookie cutters, then shape your cookie dough into 4” logs. Wrap the logs with wax paper and refrigerate them for an hour. Then, slice the cookies into 1/4” rounds and place the cookies onto baking sheets. From there, follow the remaining directions in the given recipe.
- Add a pinch of sugar to the lavender when you grind it. This will help you to achieve a finer consistency.
- If you don’t have access to fresh lavender, then you can use 2 teaspoons of dried lavender. Skip the washing step, but be sure to grind the dried lavender until it has a fine consistency.
Warnings
- If you use dried lavender, make sure that it is food-grade and chemical free.
Things You'll Need
- Bowl of cool water
- Paper towels or salad spinner
- Mortar and pestle
- Mixing bowl
- Stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer
- Flour for work surface
- Rolling pin
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Spatula
- Wire racks
- Hot or iced herbal tea for serving (optional)
