Recipe - Lavender Shortbread

I thought that I would share the lavender shortbread recipe my mum and I used to make the shortbread for my brother's wedding - it was a bit hit and a great cookie for summer tea parties. You can use this recipe as a base to make other kinds of shortbread too. The other day I made a batch where I substituted the lavender for a bit of orange extract, lemon zest and some chocolate chips. It was really tasty too.

Lavender Shortbread

* This recipe makes 2 batches

1 1/2 cups butter, softened (room temperature is best, let it sit out for awhile before you use it)

2/3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lavender flowers, chopped finely (you can usually get culinary lavender from your local health food store)

2 1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and lavender with a mixer until light and fluffy. (It makes a big difference in the shortbread to really beat it and get it as fluffy as you can - this will create shortbread that melts in your mouth!)

3. Sift the flour, cornstarch and salt then add to the above mixture and beat until well mixed.

4. Divide the dough into two, flatten into discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (I leave it about half an hour).

5. Roll out the dough to 1/2" thickness using a floured rolling pin and floured board.

6. Cut the cookies out with cookie cutters - we used small hearts. Don't make the cookies too big as the shortbread will just crumble after it's baked. One trick we discovered is that if you refrigerate the cut out cookies for about 15 minutes before baking, they will hold their shape better in the oven.

7. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes on parchment covered cookie sheets, until the cookies are slightly golden around the edges. Do not overbake as you will end up with shortbread that is very hard.

8. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

OPTIONAL: When the cookies are completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.

This recipe is super easy and doesn't take a lot of time. Homemade shortbread cookies make a lovely gift - they are always a bit hit and store bought shortbread can be very expensive. Have fun!