LEMON LAVENDER SHORTBREAD COOKIES

OK, OK, OK, yes! i believe now i am bordering on obsession with the shortbread cookie

i love the simplicity of the shortbread cookie

i love the aromas of the shortbread cookie

i'm inspired by the versitility of the shortbread cookie

most of all...i think it's the slightly guilty feeling when i dump the

2, yes TWO!, WHOLE STICKS OF BUTTER in the mixer

i must say, i'm a little intrigued by the addition of herbs into sweets. i've been thinking about it for a while now. it might have started with the white peach-rosemary friands i saw a while back. i'm going to try those maybe today or tomorrow.

BUT, back to these darn cookies...

so shoot me...i didn't use organic or "cooking" lavender.

and guess what?...I DIDN'T DIE!

i really have no idea how to properly cook with lavender, but i'll tell ya what i did do and it turnd out just fine, great in fact..i went over to walk the next door neighbors' dog, casey the airdale, and there in my face was some beautiful lavender...hmmm....i stole a few sprigs (haven't confessed yet) and i shall pay-back with a few cookies, of course.

i pulled the little tiny buds off (about 2 T.) and as i was doing this the yummy oils were wafting around and i could tell this was gonna be deelish.

i added the 2 T. to the butter mixture. then..i had another idea to infuse some reg. white sugar for dusting the top. i pulled a bunch more buds and put in a bowl with about 3 T. sugar and smashed it around with a flat bottomed glass. mortar n' pestle would break it up too much. i let that sit, then sifted the buds out and spinkled that sugar over each cookie right before baking. i also kept the leftover, with the buds still in, and put it in a little jar for some other use...even that use is to just open the jar every now and then to take a whiff...mmmm....

so, once again, i used an adaption of smittenkitchen's dorie adaption of the shortbread cookie

i used this as my base recipe

added the lavender and zest of 1 lemon (with a squeeze of juice) to the butter/sugar mixture and proceeded with the recipe. i used the ziploc baggie trick again and it worked out great. with the cut-out reminents i balled up and put into a small ziploc, flattened out, refridged and just cut again. love the ziploc trick.

then i dusted the cut cookies right before the oven...

don't forget to RE-refridgerate the cut cookies before the oven. it really helps retain the shape. next time i think i'm goin to try putting them it at 380-400 degrees for the 1st 5 min, then lowering it to 320. (i cook in a convection so i always take off 5-10 degrees)

so welcome to my new obsession. if you don't hear anymore from me maybe i really shouldn't be just picking any ol' thing out of the garden and cooking with it...

haven't died YET.....