Sunday, June 29, 2008

Lavender Shortbread

No visuals for you, sorry. They were eaten up too fast.

1 cup butter
4 tsp lavender buds
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

First, if you have one of those little Braun coffee grinders, you whiz the lavender with a tablespoon or two of sugar. You can also use a food processor but the texture might be slightly chunkier. Then transfer that to your mixer, add the butter and the rest of the sugar and whip till the mixture looks really well blended. Then add the flour. (such high-tech instructions)

Now you can either roll it out or shape into little balls (which you might want to flatten slightly before baking). Some people use parchment or plastic wrap for rolling, but I used (gasp!) MORE SUGAR. Not a lot more, about another 1/4 cup. It gave them a nice sablé texture, which was welcome with such a rich biscuit.

After you've got them on the cookie sheets you must chill them for at least 30 minutes. I place mine in the freezer. Then bake, 300ºF, for around 15 minutes. Whatever you do, do NOT let them get brown. You want them in the pre-brown phase, if that makes sense. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then place on racks to fully cool.

Bon Appetit!

4 comments:

Louise said...

I shall try these. I've lavender in the garden and all the ingredients in the cupboard. I have often wondered what they taste like. I will blog them if a success or if they are around long enough to take a photo! x

Mrs. G. said...

Do you eat this or use it as a sachet? Just kidding. Sounds yummy.

sheila said...

Mrs. G, I put them in my undies! Once they go stale you should change them.

Seriously, we found the flavour dissipated after a couple of days, so make tiny batches.

Leonie said...

Wow, never thought of lavender in shortbread...