Lavender Shortbread Cookies

So ~delicate~ and romantic.

This is a variation of the chocolate chunk shortbread from Alison Roman (of Marie Kondo Beef fame). I think it’s just a great crumbly melt-in-your-mouth shortbread base to start with, and the demerara(rararara) sugar that coats each cookie is a great touch to add some extra crunch.

I added some lavender because I was in a bit of a floral mood, and to add some nice aroma to the cookies.

The base of this recipe is from Alison Roman’s viral cookbook Dining In, although it can be found on Bon Appetit’s website (RIP). I just changed up the flavour a bit.

Ingredients (makes about 24 cookies)

  • 2 1/4 sticks/255g cold salted butter, cut into cubes (alternatively you could replace with unsalted butter and add 3/4 tsp of salt but Alison Roman swears you get a deeper salt flavour with the salted butter so that’s what I stuck with)
  • 1/2 cup/100g granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup/50g light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups/281g all purpose flour
  • 1.5 tbsp dried lavender flowers (use 1 tbsp if you just want a hint, or if you have particularly pungent flowers). plus about 2 tsp extra for garnish at the end
  • 1 large egg, beaten, to coat the cookies at the end
  • Demerara sugar, to coat the cookies at the end

Method

  1. In a food processor, process the dried lavender flowers with the granulated sugar until the flowers are ground up.
  2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars (including the ground up lavender flowers), and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and super fluffy and it looks like frosting, about 3-5 mins (see notes if you don’t have a powerful enough mixer).
  3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and fold in the flour, just enough to blend.
  4. Divide the dough into half, and place each piece onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a log about 2″ in diameter, squeezing the dough tightly together, and wrap completely in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours (I just leave mine in the fridge overnight – I always feel that cookies taste better after a long rest).
  5. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 sheet pans with baking paper.
  6. Brush the outside of the logs with the beaten egg, and roll in demerara sugar.
  7. Slice each log into 1/2 inch thick rounds (this might be easier if you use a sharp serrated knife), and place on the prepared sheet pans about 1 inch apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of lavender flower to decorate.
  8. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are beginning to brown, about 12-15 mins. The cookies themselves will not take on much colour.
  9. Let cool slightly before eating (the recipe claims that it tastes best at room temperature but I think the cookie tastes great both warm and at room temperature, just in different ways).
  10. Store in an airtight container at room temperature once the cookies have completely cooled.

Notes

  • If you don’t have a strong enough mixer to cream together sugar with cold butter (like me), just cream the sugar together with room temperature butter (but not too warm or it won’t cream lol). I don’t really buy her thing about creaming cold butter honestly.
  • The cookie dough can be kept up to a week in the fridge, and up to a month in the freezer. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 5 days.
  • When slicing the cookies, your cookie will probably crumble apart. Just squeeze any pieces that crumbled off back together. Thicker cookies will be more likely to retain their shape – the key is to just remain consistent so all the cookies bake at the same rate.

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