Lavender Shortbread

Lavender is one of my favorite flowers and a fabulous herb to cook with.  It is  is a member of the mint family and is close to rosemary, sage, and thyme.  I have been cooking with it for years in my favorite, Herbs de Provence, but have never baked with it before today.  I was inspired to make these cookies by my favorite caterer, Monica Hobbs of the Nimitz Mansion on  Yerba Buena Island, because she makes a fabulous Lavender Shortbread with a maple and mascarpone glaze that is to die for.  I am still trying to find where I put her recipe but until I do I am playing around with other recipes that are on internet and twisting them to make them my own!

This recipe is what I have come up with after a bit of trial and error.  I considered a shortbread with just the lavender but I have so many lemons right now and truthfully I love how lemon zest looks and the tartness it adds to a cookie. This recipe is made in a food processor but feel free to make it in a stand up mixer or even a bowl with a hand held mixer.  Just make sure that after you form your logs they stay in the freezer until they are nice and solid, otherwise I found them to spread a bit.  You can roll the logs in sugar and lavender before you slice them but watch to make sure this doesn't cause the edges to brown more quickly.  I hope you enjoy the recipe!  I will keep looking for Monica's recipe and we can give that one a try when I find it!

LAVENDER SHORTBREAD

2/3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tablespoons dried culinary lavender
½ teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 lemons
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour

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, 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 logs.  Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze until solid.

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

Take a sharp knife and slice ¼ inch thick. Place an inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 10 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.

(can roll logs in a sugar/lavender mixture before slicing if you choose)

Adapted from Thecookingphotographer.com

If you are looking for the best caterer in the world with the most beautiful venue - http://www.nimitzmansion.com/