Lavender and Sea Salt Shortbread Cookies
Lavender Sea Salt Shortbread Cookies are classically simple, fragrant treats that you will want to make time and time again.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tablespoon dried lavender culinary lavender
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 -4 tablespoons grapefruit juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Maldon or other flaky sea salt for garnish
Instructions
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Whisk together flour and sea salt in a small bow. Set aside.
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Grind together lavender and sugar with a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder (coffee grinders work great for this also, just make sure to clean it out thoroughly first).
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Add butter and ground lavender mixture to the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour, mixing until the dough just comes together. Transfer dough to a clean surface, divide in half and form into two balls. Wrap dough balls in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each dough ball out to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a heart-shaped or 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut cookies. Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheets.
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When the oven is preheated, bake cookies for 8 -10 minutes, until just browned around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Whisk together grapefruit juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Add more grapefruit juice if necessary to thin out the icing. Spread icing onto cooled cookies and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Recipe Notes
The dough will need to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. As an additional step, you can pop the lavender cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes after you cut the dough into shapes. The chilling will help so the shortbread cookies won’t spread while baking.This is a cookie recipe where I recommend you splurge on some grass-fed European butter. It is really essential for the flavor of the cookies, and the cheap butter does not have much flavor.Shortbread doesn’t spread too much when baking so you can place the lavender shortbread pretty close together on the tray. I recommend baking your shortbread on parchment paper or a silicone mat. Not that much because of sticking, but because the bottoms of the cookies might brown too much. You will know the shortbread cookies are done when they’re slightly golden brown on the edges. Once out of the oven, wait around 5 minutes before trying to move them.