Best Gingery Lavender Shortbread Recipes

LAVENDER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm. On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar. Garnish: lavender powdered sugar: Put a 4 or 5 sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar.

LAVENDER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream the butter until soft in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until incorporated. Stir together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix at low speed just until the ingredients are almost incorporated, then add the lavender, and mix until the dough starts to come together. Flour a work surface, turn the dough onto it, and knead it 5 to 10 times, to bring the dough together and smooth it out.
• Reflour the work surface. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4-inch thick to fit an 8 by 8-inch square baking pan lined with parchment. To transfer to the pan, roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, lift it up, and unroll into the pan. (Or, press the dough thoroughly into the pan with your fingers.) Prick the shortbread all over with a fork, or use a pique-vite (dough docker) if you've got one, to prevent any buckling or shrinking. Sprinkle the surface evenly with 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar.
• Bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, deflate the dough by knocking the pan once against the oven rack then rotate the pan to ensure even cooking and a flat surface. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden all over and very lightly browned. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Let cool about 5 minutes. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 3 rows by 5 rows making about 1 1/2-inch by 3-inch bars. Let cool completely in the pan. Remove from the pan and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

GINGERY LAVENDER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• In bowl, combine flour, sugar, crystallized ginger, lavender, and ground ginger.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.
• Form mixture into a ball; knead until smooth (dough may be crumbly at first but will come together as you work it with your hands).
• Roll or pat dough onto prepared cookie sheet in 11” x 6” rectangle.
• With large knife, carefully halve rectangle lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 16 slices.
• Do not separate slices.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are light brown and center is set.
• Re-cut the rectangle and separate the slices while warm.
• If desired, sprinkle with additional sugar.
• Cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• To Store: Place cookies in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container.
• Store at room temperature for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.