Lavender Shortbread; a delicious tea treat (or anytime)

Lavender shortbread?!? Crazy sounding, I know. But delicious. When I first came across this recipe last year I was quite skeptical. But then, I happened upon some lavender and thought "Why not?" I was pleasantly surprised! This is the perfect spring/summer treat. It's an amazing shortbread recipe with a hint of lavender.

Ever since I made it last year I've been longing to make it again. With the spring weather I was racking my brain trying to think of where I could get cooking grade lavender. It theoretically isn't that hard, apparently you can pretty much get it at any Chinese market in the tea section. Cooking grade lavender is also used for tea, who knew? (The answer: lots of people, I'm sure. I was not one of them). However, I've been busy and haven't been able to get to Chinatown and explore. Low and behold, I'm randomly strolling around the Union Square Farmer's Market last week and there is now a lovely gentleman who sells lavender in all forms .... sprigs, sachets and yes, bags of cooking grade lavender. I'll tell you what - his stand smells WONDERFUL. I could just spend all day standing there and sniffing. Instead, I bought myself a 2 oz bag of lavender so I could enjoy the scents at home. Of course, 2 ounces .... that's a lot of lavender!

Ok, so, this recipe is a delicate balance ... you want to be able to taste the lavender, but you don't want it to taste like you are eating the sachet out of your clothing drawer. Its a beautiful and delicate recipe. Even if you don't like how it tastes (in which case, I would question your taste), it will make your apartment smell like a wonderful mix of butter & lavender.

Lavender Shortbread
adapted from Renee's Garden

Prep Time: 10 minutes (plus 30 - 45 minutes chilling time)
Cook Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Yields: about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound, or 3 sticks) butter, at room temperature (no substitutes)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 TBS finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)
• 1 TBS chopped fresh mint
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm.

2. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 325°F. Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper.

3. On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown).
   

4. Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar.

5. Garnish with lavender powdered sugar: Put a 4 or 5 sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar. **

**[NOTE] Okay, let's be honest. Usually when I bake my thought process is "ooo! I wanna make that! Now!" And since I keep my kitchen pretty well stocked with the basic baking items I need, that usually works. Or I run to the store and pick something up real quick. It's only specialty items, orders, or events that I really plan for. So, when I want to make this shortbread and happen to have lavender sitting in my kitchen...I make it. And don't have a day to make the lavender powdered sugar. The first time I made this I just used plain powdered sugar. This time around, I muddled a teaspoon of lavender florets with my powdered sugar. So there you have it.**

Enjoy this with some tea, coffee, or lemonade!!