Lavender Shortbread Cookies to Die For

I visited a lavender farm up in River John, Nova Scotia, and was treated to fields purpled over in a misty haze and air that smelled divine, scented from row-upon-row of lavender plants.

I stepped under an awning and into a large tent and saw table after table loaded with food and skincare products made with lavender. I picked out a few items and stepped outside where there were long tables loaded with food. And something caught my interest. I saw a plate of lavender shortbread cookies and the sign invited people to sample them. I took a tentative bite, having never before tasted lavender, and I was entranced. What a unique flavor combo. I've always loved shortbread and flavored as these cookies were with a hint of delicate lavender, I bit into something truly special. I purchased a packet of culinary lavender buds on the spot and came home and made these cookies. They were every bit as good as the ones I sampled at the lavender farm and I added the recipe to my stash of tried-and-true sweet treats. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do.

Lavender goes particularly well with sugar so it makes an excellent ingredient when baking sweet treats. While you may have thought of lavender as a fragrant plant that grows in the home garden and suitable for a pretty show of purple blooms or as a plant that is a favorite for using in crafting, lavender can also be used in the home kitchen for baking and cooking with, to flavor dessert items and even meat. It adds a delightful twist to whatever you are preparing.

Home cooks can add culinary lavender buds (lavandula angustifolia) to sugar or honey, to frosting or icing, and to whipped cream. Lavender buds can be sprinkled over vanilla ice cream or added into shortbread cookie dough as will be seen in this article. Adding the buds imparts a wonderful flavor. Picture if you will the slightly crispy/crumbly texture of rich shortbread lightly flavored with a subtle floral note--truly sublime and yet another way to make shortbread.

You can serve these cookies plain or dust them with sifted icing sugar, as seen in the first picture. I find the sifted icing sugar adds a special touch. I like to use a scalloped-edged cookie cutter, which makes these cookies look so pretty.

This article offers step-by-step instructions and by the time you finish reading, you will be able to make your own lavender shortbread. The cookies use few ingredients and take just minutes to prepare but the results are well worth it.

To make the cookies seen in this article, you will need to purchase culinary lavender buds. These usually come in small packets. If you can't find culinary lavender in your local area, you can order lavender from lavender farm websites or online lavender vendors. In recent years, in the Americas, it has become more readily available.

1 cup butter

Make sure your butter is soft to start with so that it is easy to cream, prior to adding the other ingredients. Using room temperature butter makes the process so much easier and saves on preparation time. If you are stuck and only have frozen butter, defrost it in the microwave.

Add 1/2 cup icing sugar

Sift in icing sugar into the creamed butter and work with a wooden spoon or beaters until mixture is well blended, ensuring that no icing sugar lumps remain.

Sift in 1/2 cup corn starch + 1 1/2 cups of flour

It is important to sift dry ingredients as shown on this page, so cookies have a light, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Stir mixture gently with a wooden spoon, then work with hands, kneading until cookie dough forms a ball.

Add 3 tbsp. culinary lavender buds

Mix until buds are evenly distributed throughout cookie dough. You may be tempted to add more lavender. Don't. When using lavender buds for baking, remember, a little goes a very long way. Lavender is very strong aromatic plant and can easily take over the flavor. You want a hint, not a huge amount.

Sprinkle a light dusting of flour on your counter and roll out cookie dough. Cut into desired shapes with a fluted cookie cutter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place this sheet onto a second cookie sheet.

♥ Set oven rack at the mid-point and bake in a 300-degree oven for 15-20 minutes, making sure that cookies do not over-brown.

♥ Reduce heat towards end of cooking time.

♥ Remove cookies from oven and cool in pan.

♥ If desired, dust cookies with sifted icing sugar.

♥ Store in a covered container when completely cool.

• Make sure your butter is soft, not hard, which makes mixing these cookies a snap.

• Do sift. You may be tempted to take shortcuts but sifting gives these cookies such a lovely texture. And it only takes seconds.

• Knead shortbread dough gently with hands.

• Make sure you double-pan, so your cookie bottoms don't over-brown.

• Oven rack should be midway in oven.

• Check cookies and reduce heat as you near last half of cooking time. This reduces over-browning around edges.

Adding lavender to shortbread gives a new twist to a classic cookie. If you are a shortbread lover, it never hurts to add one more recipe to your repertoire.

*Copyright Athlyn Green (M. Rhodes). No part of this article may be copied.