Lavender is just beautiful to use in baking, but I know many who shy away from it because it can easily become overpowering. For me, the key is to combine it with a sour flavour, to balance out its floral sweetness. So, in these cookies I am working with lemon zest and a lemon icing. They are the perfect summer cookie to accompany an ice cream dessert.
This is a recipe from my book Baking with Anne.
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40g sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
4 1⁄2 tsp lavender petals (preferably fresh)
zest from 1 lemon
250g butter, cold
375g flour
100g icing sugar
1 egg
a pinch of salt
For the icing:
160g icing sugar
6 tsp lemon juice
lavender petals, to decorate
Put the sugar, vanilla sugar, lavender petals and lemon zest in a pestle and mortar and grind to release all the flavours. Transfer into a food processor.
Cut the butter into cubes and put into the food processor with the flour, icing sugar, egg and a pinch of salt. Whizz until it comes together as a dough.
Shape the dough into two discs, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 170°C fan.
Thinly roll one dough disc on a surface dusted with flour. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes until browned at the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Repeat with the second dough disc.
Once the cookies are cool, prepare the icing. In a small bowl, mix the icing sugar and the lemon juice into a smooth icing. Decorate the cookies with the icing and sprinkle with some lavender petals.
Leave to set for at least 1 hour.
