by Myles Katherine
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I picked up some culinary lavender from the farmer’s market on Saturday and couldn’t wait to use it in a recipe. I’ve actually never cooked with lavender since my husband thinks it’s too “flowery”. But I did catch him sneaking a few bites of the dough so he must not hate it that much!
These cookies were perfect for a breezy Sunday. I’ve also recently gotten into drinking matcha tea instead of coffee, and the cookies were a perfect treat to have on the side. The only downside is that I couldn’t stop eating them! But I made myself feel better by reminding myself that lavender is supposed to lessen anxiety and help calm the nervous system.
I was also looking for a recipe that didn’t include granulated sugar, and the maple syrup adds a lovely flavor to the cookies. You can pick up an adorable squirrel cookie cutter here!
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
- ½ cup maple syrup {or liquid sweetener of your choice}
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- dash of salt – I used a Sea Salt and Lemon blend
- 2¼ cups flour (I used a combination of millet flour – for a more powdery texture – and unbleached all purpose flour)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp culinary lavender (depending on how flowery you’d like your cookies – I used a whole tbsp!) – I got mine from Dancing Light Ranch
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your cookie cutter(s) handy.
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it’s creamy. Add sweetener, vanilla extract, lemon juice and salt and mix once again to combine. Add in flour, lemon zest, and lavender (I used a mortar and pestle to grind the lavender first to bring out the flavor), and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched — be sure to knead it really well first for some time — if it’s a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it’s a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
- Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ⅓” – ½” thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½” apart {they won’t spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball. Sprinkle the uncooked cookies with a sea salt and lemon blend.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 10-12 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don’t overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from the Unconventional Baker
You can find this cute matcha bowl here and the fun Kate Spade cake plates here!
C'est le Brie 