Lavender Vanilla Sugar Cookies

If you find these Lavender Vanilla Sugar Cookies half as charming as I, you will be inspired to brew a pot of companion tea and relax the rest of the day as your worries slip away. Lavender infuses these soft, buttery cookies with a unique flavor and while the aroma is exactly like a bubble bath the flavor is lovely, subtle and lightly floral with a little zing.

This was my first time baking with the dreamy lavender herb and I confess I was afraid it would be like eating perfume. But it wasn’t. All it took was one bite of the delicate, lavender flecked-cookie for me to realize how wrong my assumption was. And to fall slightly in love! I can’t wait to bake up more lavender sweets.

1. Use a food processor to grind lavender flowers together with sugar.

2. In a medium sized bowl beat butter and lavender sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add flour and salt and blend until combined taking care not to over mix (dough should be soft but not sticky). Separate dough into two balls and wrap in plastic, flattening each into a flat disc and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 325°F. and line baking sheets with parchment paper or leave them ungreased. Roll out one disc of dough at a time on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters and place on prepared baking sheets. Decorate with sanding sugar and/or lightly press a lavender sprig or leaf into the cookie and top. (To keep shapes intact, refrigerate baking sheet with shaped cookies for 10 minutes before baking).

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to lightly brown around the edges. Carefully remove and cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

*Fresh or dried culinary lavender flowers can be found in health or natural food stores or in herb/spice stores.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies depending on size.

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