Fragrant, crunchy, sweet Lavender Shortbread Cookies are elegant and delicious! Perfect afternoon snack with coffee and tea, and great for gifting to friends and family.
Fresh lavender is heavenly. The scent is so classic, elegant, and conjures up serene scenes of meadows filled with lavender fields.
We're pretty lucky to have several lavender U-pick farms nearby. And summer is prime lavender season around here. It's hard to resist the gorgeous bouquets of lavender that we see everywhere this time of year!
At our current house, we have a few different lavender bushes. So we can do our own U-pick at home, too.
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What type of lavender is best for cooking?
You can use most lavender in cooking and baking. The most common type of culinary lavender you will find will be labeled as English lavender. This broad term is used to describe several lavender species including Hidcote, Munstead, and Lady.
One of the recipes we've been making for decades with our fresh lavender is this easy recipe for Lavender Shortbread Cookies.
🌟 Why you'll love this recipe
These cookies are an aromatic twist on classic shortbread cookies.
These are delicate shortbread cookies that are easy to make.
They're delicious with a cup of tea or coffee. And stack them up and wrap them up to make beautiful, yummy gifts for friends!
💜 Ingredient notes
To make these sweet shortbread cookies, you will need:
- butter
- granulated sugar
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
- salt
- fresh lavender or dried lavender
The following ingredients are optional. However, I do recommend them!
- powdered sugar for rolling dough
- additional lavender leaves for garnish
- sprinkle sugar
Exact measurements of ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this post. Here are some helpful tips to guide you as you make this recipe.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Cream the butter in a stand mixer.
Add the sugar and mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch and sugar.
The next step is the perfect chance to enlist the help of your kiddos!
Gently pick the lavender off the stems until you have almost a tablespoon full. My daughter loves how lavender smells, and she had fun picking the lavender off the stems into the tablespoon.
Add lavender into the mixer and mix the dough until it starts to come together and pull away from the sides.
Sprinkle a little powdered sugar onto a rolling mat or cutting board and knead the dough gently but thoroughly, about 5-7 times.
Roll out the dough into a circle until the circle is about ¼" thick.
Using a cookie cutter, cut out 2" shapes.
Place cut cookies onto a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a Silpat. Sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.
This next step is not optional, as it helps the cookies bake evenly and not puff up. Take a toothpick or a fork and gently poke small holes into the cookie. I made a circle pattern using a toothpick to go with the round shape of my cookies.
Now, the next step is optional: I place 3-5 individual lavender leaves in the center of each cookie. These will bake enough to stay on the cookies, and give them a gorgeous, polished, professional bakery look.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until cookies have very light golden edges.
Voila! Delicate, delicious, sweet lavender shortbread cookies perfect for picnics, any home gathering you may have, and for homemade gifts.
Also just wonderful to snack on all afternoon long!
👩🏻🍳 Baking tips
Dried vs. fresh lavender: you can use dried lavender instead of fresh. Just reduce the amount of dried lavender by about ⅓, since the dried herbs tend to be a bit more potent in flavor and aroma than fresh.
To ensure even baking: about halfway through baking, rotate the racks (place the top cookie sheet on the bottom, and the bottom on the top). Also turn each cookie sheet 180 degrees so the front is now facing the back.
Don't overbake! Watch the cookies carefully starting at the 15 minute mark. Shortbread can burn quickly toward the end, so make sure they just start to turn a beautiful golden color and aren't too dark around the edges. My batches took around 17 minutes.
Tried and true, expert-tested cookies
I've been making these recipes for almost 20 years! In fact, my daughter was in one of the photos in the original post for this recipe.
That's a picture of her at age five helping me make this recipe. In true teenager fashion, she has refused to allow me to take photos of her making this recipe with me recently.
More cookie recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Ingredients
optional:
- powdered sugar for rolling dough
- additional lavender leaves for garnish
- sprinkle sugar
Instructions
- Cream the butter in a stand mixer until smooth and a very pale yellow color (no longer bright yellow), about 2 minutes. I take a spatula and scrape down the sides halfway through to ensure even, full mixing.
- Add the sugar and mix until well blended, about 1-2 full minutes. I scrape down the sides of the mixer twice during this time to ensure even mixing.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly add to the mixer and mix on low until all dry and wet ingredients are combined.
- Gently pick the lavender off the stems until you have almost a Tablespoon full.
- Add lavender into the mixer and mix the dough until it starts to come together and pull away from the sides. It should not be crumbly.
- Sprinkle a little powdered sugar onto a rolling mat or cutting board and knead the dough gently but thoroughly, about 5-7 times.
- Roll out the dough into a circle until the circle is about ¼" thick.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out 2" shapes.
- Place cut cookies onto a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a Silpat. Sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.
- Take a toothpick or a fork and gently poke small holes into the cookie. This helps the cookies bake evenly and not puff up.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until cookies have very light golden edges. Make sure they are not too dark, and watch them carefully: shortbread can burn quickly toward the end! My batches took around 17 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Recipe adapted from Gale Gand/Food Network
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This lavender shortbread cookies recipe was originally published on UrbanBlissLife.com on July 12, 2012. It was updated July 12, 2020 with new photos and updated content, including more baking tips.
annie says
Hey there,
I found you on SITS and wanted to come over and say hello. I have more of a 'lifestyle' blog and am working on becoming an entrepeuner. Would love to chat sometime about what you are doign and how you're going about it!
ps - the lavendar cookies look delicious. I love the pics you included.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi Annie! Thanks for visiting! Just checked out your blog too. Looks great! I'm always happy to chat with others about entrepreneurship. Shoot me an email if you have any questions, or feel free to tweet me @UrbanBliss Media. Sometimes it's easier to chat back & forth via Twitter :-)
c @ annuary chit says
Wow they look so beautiful. Thanks for sharing this on Sharefest! I pinned it so I can remember to make my sister bake these! I have a lot of dried lavender do you think it will change the taste much?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi! In my experience, the taste won't change much if you substitute dried for fresh herbs, however you will want to use less dried herbs than the recommended fresh lavender amount. It really depends on how much of a lavender taste you want in your cookies. I like how you are going to make your sister bake them ;-)
PhotogCynthia says
Stopping by from SITS and am so glad I did. Yummy and gorgeous cookies!!! I also really like that IKEA cart. I look forward to reading more.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi Cynthia! Thank you so much for visiting! Just stopped by your blog as well. Now I'm off to find you on Pinterest!
Kate (Pennello Lane) says
I love lavender shortbread but have never tried making it, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Visiting you from the Saturday Sharefest. Great blog design! Very clean and modern, makes me want to stay a while. :)
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Happy SITS Saturday, Kate! The lavender cookies really are easy & fast to make - faster even than chocolate chip cookies!
I just took a peek at your blog as well and will definitely be back again. Gorgeous design and wonderfully inspiring interviews you have happening over there!
Rebecca Rider says
This recipe looks delicious!! I will have to try it!! Are you on pinterest? I'd love to follow your recipe page if you are!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I LOVE Pinterest! My boards are at http://www.pinterest.com/urbanbliss. I'd love to connect with you over there too!
Kyetra Belton says
These look GREAT! I found you on SITS and well stopping by often.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thank you, Kyetra! Just visited your blog as well. Beautiful floral photos you have up right now!