Laura’s Lavender Shortbread Cookies & Lavender Granola

Recently I was in Longboat Key and Brenda and I went to a writers group at Karen O’Dowd’s. Her daughter, Laura Lewakowski, had sent some delicious Lavender Shortbread Cookies. Naturally, Brenda and I wanted the recipe to share with you.

Laura has just sent this for us to share and provided us with a little background.

Here’s the recipe for the Lavender Cookies you had on the beach at La Playa last week. So glad you enjoyed them!

My daughter Erin, my mother and I spent time in France last summer, and scheduled our trip in mid July to be sure we saw the lavender fields in full bloom in Provence.  Using Avignon as our base, we toured the Luberon and its perched villages, visiting the lavender fields and farms, and small rural markets where we feasted on local goat cheese spread on fresh-baked baguettes, and strawberries still warm from the summer sun. I do grow lavender in my Michigan herb garden, producing enough to make a batch or two of these cookies which are a favorite at tea time. Adding lavender to my granola recipe gives it a unique flavor, and is very pretty when given as a gift in a jar tied with a ribbon (lavender of course) and a sprig of lavender on top.

Laura’s Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh lavender

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

Method:

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the lavender, mint and lemon zest. Combine the flour and cornstarch; mix into the batter until well blended. Divide dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten to about 1 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, just until the cookies begin to brown at the edges. Slide the cookies off the sheet, parchment paper and all, onto the counter to cool.

Experiment with the amount of lavender, mint, and lemon to your own taste. The cookies freeze and ship well.

Brenda and I had a great day.