In my flower gardens, I often plant flowers for the color beside herbs for the smell. One of my favorite plants is French Lavender for both the flowers and the heavenly aroma. However, I am not sure if I have culinary-grade lavender, as opposed to crafting lavender which may be more pungent and bitter. Plus harvesting, drying, and sifting the flowers was a bit more work than I wanted to do. So I purchased some culinary-grade lavender. Of course, then I had to decide what I wanted to do with it. So, time to make cookies!
The Inside Scoop
When both volumetric and weight measures are provided, the volumetric measures should be considered approximations. The standard measure for a cup of sugar is 192 grams. By volume, this measure will be less than 1 cup.
Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly, Lavender’s green.
Be sure to use culinary-grade lavender in this recipe. Lavender is typically divided into 2 categories: culinary and crafting. Culinary-grade lavender comes from lavender that is grown specifically for culinary uses (of course). It has a sweeter flavor, and has been sifted to remove leaves, bits of stems, and other debris.
While lavender can be used whole, crushing the lavender will allow more flavor to be released. The easiest way to crush lavender is in a thoroughly clean coffee grinder. However, it can also be crushed with a mortar and pestle, or by wrapping it in waxed paper and crushing it with a meat hammer, aka meat tenderizer.
One remaining issue with lavender: Too much lavender will give the cookie a soapy taste. If your lavender is very fresh and has a very strong scent, use less. If your lavender has lost some of its strong scent, use more.
Why is the lavender creamed with the butter and shortening? The goal is to infuse the butter and margarine with the lavender for a more even flavoring in the cookie. Can you say YUM?
Life’s better with fresh baked cookies.
This is a very easy cookie to make. However, avoid over-stirring the cookie dough: either stir by hand or use the lowest speed of a stand mixer. A hand-held mixer will incorporate too much air, which will make for a very dry cookie. Stir gently just until ingredients are combined and cookie dough is fairly smooth.
You’re such a softie! Let butter soften to a cool room temperature. To soften quickly, place the stick of wrapped butter in a microwave and microwave on low heat until slightly softened, to a cool room temperature, and not melted. This typically takes approximately 10 seconds. Leaving the butter in the original paper helps it soften evenly.
Getting “Eggcited” about eggs? Be sure eggs are at room temperature. Warm eggs hold more air than cold eggs, are easier to whisk, blend into the cookie dough better, and bake more evenly. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature before cracking, place eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes.
Crack eggs into a small bowl before adding to the batter. That way, it is easy to remove any bits of eggshell or bloody eggs.
C is for Cookie. That’s good enough for me.
This cookie dough, when first combined, is too sticky to shape into a ball. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least one hour or over night until the cookie dough is chilled and firm. After the cookie dough is formed into balls, flatten the cookies SLIGHTLY so that the cookies bake with an even thickness.
Be sure to allow 3″ of space between cookies so that cookies have room to spread while baking. Bake until there is the slightest hint of browning around the edges.
These cookies are wonderful plain or with a lavender frosting. If you choose to frost the cookies, place the parchment paper on which the cookies were baked under the cooling racks to catch any frosting drips.
For a thicker icing, top each cookie with 1 ½ teaspoons of icing and spread with a knife. For quick and easy icing, make the frosting slightly thinner and dip the top of the cookies into the icing. And piping: An in-between thickness that will allow the frosting to easily flow through the piping tip. Place the cookies back on the cooling rack and let the excess icing drip onto the parchment paper under the cooling rack.
A light Lavender and White Chocolate Chip Cookie that is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Top it with some Lavender Icing for a true Lavender Cookie treat! To Make the Cookies: Crush the dried lavender flowers. This can be done in a clean coffee grinder (the easiest way), with a mortar and pestle, or by wrapping the lavender flowers in waxed paper and using the flat side of a meat hammer (aka Meat Tenderizer) to break the flowers; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed, cream together the shortening, butter, and crushed lavender flowers. Add the sugar; cream together. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract; mix together until very smooth and creamy. Add the flour mix; stir by hand. Stir in the white chocolate chips, if using. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days, until dough can be easily handled. When Ready to Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure 1 ounce of cookie dough (about the size of a walnut) for each cookie. Roll the dough into balls and place on the lined baking sheets, spacing cookies about 3” apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until barely brown around the edges. Once baked, remove the baking sheets from the oven and place on cooling racks for 1-2 minutes to let the cookies firm, then transfer the cookies directly to the cooling rack. Repeat until all the cookie dough has been baked. Cool completely. If icing the cookies, remove the parchment paper from the baking sheets and slip under the cooling racks to catch any icing drips. To Make the Icing: Place the White Chocolate Chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on LOW power (e.g., half power or defrost) until the white chocolate chips are soft and can be stirred smooth. Stir together the powdered sugar and the melted white chocolate. Add the remaining icing ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread, drizzle, or pipe icing onto the cookies, letting the icing drip off the edges of the cookies. The tops of the cookies can also be dipped into the icing. Let icing set until firm. Enjoy!Lavender Cookies with White Chocolate Chips and Lavender Icing
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