LAVENDER-LEMON SPRITZ COOKIES

Here’s a lavendery take on classic spritz cookies, juxtaposing lively, tart lemon against the herbal and floral flavors of our favorite culinary buds.  You’ll have to polish up your cookie press technique, but these little gems are worth the effort.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup [227 gm] Butter, unsalted, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup [150 gm] Sugar, baker’s fine
  • 1/3 cup [80 gm] Sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp [2.5 gm] Vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp [2 gm] Lemon zest, finely grated
  • 1 tsp [5 gm] Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • [3 gm] Culinary lavender buds, finely ground
  • 2 3/4 cups [330 gm] Flour, unbleached all-purpose
  • 1/2 tsp [3 gm] Salt
  • 1/4 tsp [1.5 gm] Baking soda

Instructions

Oven: 350ºF, convection (375ºF for conventional oven)

  1. In an upright mixer, cream together butter and sugar.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt through a mesh strainer; set aside.
  3. To the butter and sugar cream, add sour cream, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, and ground lavender buds.  Mix well until consistency is uniform.
  4. Add dry ingredients in at least 3 portions, just until incorporated.  Remove bowl from mixer.
  5. By hand, scrape down sides.  Mix just enough to make the batter uniform.
  6. Line sheet pans with parchment paper.
  7. Load dough (which should be soft) into cookie press, and select a pattern template.  Extrude cookie dough onto parchment, at least 1 inch apart.
  8. Bake 6 1/2 minutes, then quickly rotate tray pans (top/bottom and front/back).  Bake another 4 minutes, watching closely.  Remove from oven when some of the exposed edges take on the slightest golden color.
  9. Transfer carefully to wire cooling rack.
  10. Yield: Approximately 5 dozen small cookies.  Store in an air-tight container, and freeze if you wish.

The Lavender-Lemon Spritz Cookie is at the center position on this plate of mixed cookies, dotted with a small piece of candied fruit.  Don’t let its diminutive size cause you to underestimate the magnitude of its flavor!  Of note: the color of the glaze as shown results entirely from the natural pigments in the lavender buds.

LAVENDER-LEMON GLAZE

  • 1 cup [120 gm] Confectioners sugar (powdered)
  • 1/2 tsp [2.5 gm] Vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp [1 gm] Lemon zest, finely grated
  • 1 Tbsp [15 gm] Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • [1 gm] Culinary lavender buds, finely ground
  • 1 Tbsp [15 gm] Lavender extract (see below)
  • 1 pinch [0.5 gm] Salt
  1. Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl until smooth.  If the mixture is too thick, add tiny amounts of lemon juice or water until the mixture is “paintable”.
  2. Use a pastry brush to “paint” the glaze into the tops of each cookie.
  3. Set glazed cookies on parchment to dry.

LAVENDER PRODUCT TIPS

Lavender Buds – Choose culinary-grade dried lavender buds from a Lavandula angustifolia cultivar (‘Royal Velvet’ was used when this recipe was tested).  Be careful to avoid buds with aromas that are darkly herbal.  The quantity use will vary with the relative potency of your buds, and your personal taste preferences.

Lavender Extract – Choose a sweet-smelling alcohol-based extract of Lavandula angustifolia buds.  The taste of the extract will be inherently bitter, but there should be a distinct lavender aroma.  Avoid “extracts” that are simply lavender essential oil diluted in an alcoholic carrier.

Contributed by

Michael Lemmers & Chris Mulder

RavenCroft & Barn Owl Nursery

Edited & formatted by

Michael Lemmers

RavenCroft