Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Lemon-Lavender Shortbread and a Giggle



This cookie was born from a special request. One day my husband came home from work and said that Randy, the city attorney, requested a cookie with lavender. After I giggled for awhile I got to work. As it turned out he was right. This cookie is so good I’ll never laugh at him again! Ok, maybe a little laugh.

This recipe uses a food processer to create these beautiful cookies with little fuss. They are so easy you might find yourself making them often to use up all that lavender you had to buy!

2/3 cups sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon lemon extract
½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
Raw sugar for rolling

Directions:
Add the butter and sugar to the food processer bowl and mix until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the salt, lavender, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, and vanilla extract and pulse until combined and the lavender is chopped scraping down the bowl as needed, about 20 seconds. Add the flour and pulse until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a clean surface and knead a couple of times to combine. Cut dough in half and form into rectangle logs about an inch long and 3/4th inches wide. Cut two pieces of wax paper to form around logs, pour raw sugar onto the wax papers and press the logs into the sugar forming the dough into shape as you press. Roll the wax paper around the logs and freeze until solid.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Let the logs rest on the counter for about 15 minutes before cutting. Take a sharp knife and slice ¼ inch thick. Place an inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 17 to 20 minutes until golden around the edges. Let set one minute and transfer to a cooling rack.

Think ahead: Shortbread logs can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw slightly before slicing. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Recipe by Laura Flowers


6 comments:

Ginger said...

You have to tell me what these taste like? I am always looking for a different cookie for girls night. AND where do you get dried culinary lavender? Of course the photos are beyond wonderful!!

The Cooking Photographer said...

They are buttery, lemony, just slightly flowery, crispy and mildly sweet. I got my culinary lavender off of Amazon.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I LOVE lavender. I've never used it in shortbread, but infused in a tea cake with a bit of lemon zest, so a similar flavor combo. I make a shortbread with espresso too! Beautiful pictures - and I love your method of slicing logs -- what a great way to get uniform shortbread rather than rolling and cutting.

Best, Zahavahf

The Cooking Photographer said...

Thank-you Zahavahf!

Unknown said...

I just finished baking these for a tea party. They are just fabulous. Honestly I couldn't stop scraping the food processor and eating the dough raw. These will definitely become a favorite in my house.

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