These lemon lavender cookies are perfect for your Easter or spring celebrations. They scream spring flavors with tart lemon and flowery lavender combining to create a delicate flavor enhanced by buttery shortbread. Cut them into cute bunnies for Easter or any shape you'd like.
If cut-out cookies aren't your thing, you can roll the dough into a log and slice the cookies instead. These lemon lavender cookies would even be great dipped in a little white chocolate if you'd like to mix it up even more!
How to make shortbread cookies
Shortbread cookies are very simple to make and require minimal ingredients. Because of this, make sure you use high-quality butter since there's a lot of it! Also make sure you use food-grade lavender.
Start by creaming the butter and sugar together and then add the vanilla and lemon zest. Next the dry ingredients are added, including the dried lavender.
The dough comes together fairly easily but can look intimidating when first removing the mixture from the bowl as it's quite crumbly. Work your dough with warm hands and it should come together nicely into a smooth dough ball.
If you are having some trouble, you can sprinkle a little water over the dough to help it come together. Starting with room temperature butter will help this as well.
The recipe makes a fair amount of cookies. You will separate the dough into 2 balls and you can easily freeze one of the dough balls wrapped in plastic wrap for a couple months to have cookies on hand all the time!
I decorated these cookies with yellow and white sanding sugar on some and dried lavender flowers on others. If you have kids, this would be a great, albeit messy, way to get them involved!
How to store the cookies
Keep the cookies in an airtight container. Place a layer or wax paper or parchment paper in between each layer of cookies. The cookies will stay fresh for 3-5 days.
For more spring recipes, check out:
- Lavender Scones
- Strawberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Easter Cream Cheese Babka
- Meyer Lemon Tarts with White Chocolate
Tag me on Instagram @themarblekitchenblog if you make this and leave a star rating and comment below! Thank you and enjoy!
Enjoy and Happy Easter!
Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp dried lavender finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the vanilla and lemon zest.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, salt and dried lavender and add to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough just starts to come together.
- Dump onto a floured surface and combine the dough using your hands until it comes together into a disc. Divide the disc into 2 and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Roll out each dough disc on a floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough and then transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Top with desired topping (sanding sugar, dried lavender, etc).
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cookies begin to turn light brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- The dough can be frozen prior to baking.
- Make sure to purchase food grade lavender.
- Finely chop the lavender until almost a powder. You can also use a mortar and pestle.
Adapted from Ina Garten.
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