This is one of the very first recipes I made with lavender, and it quickly became a go-to. It's a hit with adults and kids, and even people who say they don't like cookies?!
The recipe credit goes to Melissa Stadler at Modern Honey. These cookies are soft, chewy and delightfully different from your average sugar cookie. They are both sweet and tart. Depending on how "lavender forward" I want to go, I add 1 heaping tsp to 1 modest tbsp of lavender buds. The lavender adds an sweet earthy flavour that makes the entire cookie's flavour more complex and rich. More below.
Lemon + Lavender Sugar Cookies
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 24 | Original Author: Melissa Stadler | Adapted by: Stephanie Craig
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter (cold + cut into cubes)
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Lemon Zest (or just zest a whole lemon to keep things simple)
- 3 cups Flour
- 1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Culinary Lavender Buds (1 tsp ground/crushed + 1 tsp for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and crushed lavender** and stir to combine.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
- Drop dough onto light colored baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sugar and whole lavender buds**.
**Culinary Lavender Notes
- When measuring the lavender, measure the full buds.
- You can crush the buds in a spice grinder or food processor, but I often just rub the buds between my hands. You want to crush the buds so there is a mix of lavender "dust" and chunks of buds.
- When garnishing the top of the cookies, add only a few buds. Lavender is quite strong.
Enjoy!
Would love to hear what you think of the recipe and if you have any suggested adaptions.
xo, Stephanie