Lavender Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Hello! Yes, the muffin girl is still alive! I just had a busy month of moving related activities, but I am happy to report that I am all moved in to a lovely 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment with one of my best friends. The apartment complex is very nice, and I love our open kitchen floor plan. I can picture myself baking many wonderful treats there! (Not that I have done much of that yet...).

But I do have a treat that I made about a month ago that I would love to share with you. You may or may not know about my obsession with lavender, but if you do not, than all you need to know is I love eating lavender and experimenting with it in in cooking and baking.

When visiting the Oregon Lavender festival this year I was introduced to Lavender Lemon Shortbread. Oh my! And of course I instantly fell in love.

Gingerbread Men and Women

OK, before you ask, yes I am aware of the fact that it is after Christmas. I had all the intentions in the world about blogging my gingerbread recipe prior to Christmas, but alas, that failed to happen.

I decided the saying "better late than never" applies to blogs too, and am posting this recipe in case anyone would like to bake New Years gingerbread men. And also because by next Christmas-time I will have probably lost track of the photos...

I suppose I should also take this time to explain myself. My last post was on November 10th. I completely agree that this in inexcusable behavior, and blogging once a week (or at LEAST every other week) is one of my New Years resolutions.

Lavender Lemon Bars

As you may already know from my previous Lavender Festival post, I am enamored with culinary lavender. This fixation started a few months back and has been since consuming my thoughts and my cooking.

I  even convinced the owner of the cupcake bakery where I work to put a lavender cupcake on the menu this month. It is called purple passion (which is a good title my lavender obsession) and is VERY lavender-y. Yum!

After falling in love with lavender lemonade I decided to experiment with what I thought would be the perfect cookie bar: a lavender lemon bar.

The lemon bar recipe I used is one of my all-time favorite recipes so I knew it would be a delicious cookie to add lavender to. I refused to use the ever-helpful tool that is google to see if there is a recipe for these bars and instead did it the old fashioned way: trail and error.

And, let me tell you, at first, there was error. But in the end I think I created a heavenly lemon bar with a hint of fragrant, floral, and absolutely wonderful lavender.

I hope you enjoy this simple and delicious recipe!

Lavender Lemon Bars

Adapted from Good Housekeeping Baking

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup cold butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
2 large lemons
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp dried lavender flowers plus more for garnish 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Make lavender sugar: Combine sugar and 2 tbsp dried lavender in an airtight container and let sit for at least two days, preferably more.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13" by 9" metal or glass baking pan wit foil, extending it over the short ends. Lightly grease foil.

In medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. With pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor-fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle dough evenly into prepared pan. With floured hand, pat dough firmly into bottom. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, from lemons, grate 1 teaspoon and squeeze 1/3 cup juice. In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored,  about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add lemon peel and juice, lavender sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining 3 tablespoons flour, and beat until blended, scraping bowl occasionally.

Pour lemon filling over warm crust. Bake 15 minutes, or until filing is just set and golden around edges. Transfer pan to wire rack. Sift remaining 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar over warm filling. Take a small handful of dried lavender flowers and rub them lightly in your hands to release their fragrant oils; sprinkle evenly over bars. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

When cool transfer foil to cutting board. Cut lengthwise into 3 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 12 pieces. Makes 36 bars.

Monogram Sugar Cookies

I was a little frightened when my foods teacher informed me that she passed on my name and e-mail address to a student who needed cookies catered for an upcoming event. My teacher did not have the time for this, and knew that it would be something I would enjoy. Truthfully, I didn't have the time either, but since when has that stopped me from doing anything?

The reason I was frightened was because this student was asking for 200 cookies. 200!? That is a lot of cookies! In the past I have made cookies and cupcakes for parties. But these were parties I was hosting and where no more than 50 guests were invited. This was in a totally different league! People who I didn't know would be eating and critiquing these cookies. And I would be paid for them. Needless to say, they had to be good!

The cookies would be served at an art show opening at my college. I was asked to make cookies in the shapes of the first letter of the artist's first names, with green icing. There would be eight different artists with five different letters for their first names: R, J, T, K and D.

I devoted an entire Sunday to the production of my 200 monogram cookies. The previous week I picked out my recipes, shopped for my supplies and borrowed a few cookie sheets. Sunday morning I woke up at 9AM ready to go! I had all my ingredients mis en place (french for "everything in its place"). I started on my first batch, hoping my trusty Kitchenaid would be up for the challenge with me...

10 hours later I finished.

I made 8 batches of Ethel's sugar cookies, a very tasty and reliable sugar cookie recipe--and I used every last bit of dough! In the past I have used a traditional royal icing recipe that calls for meringue powder, but wanting to save money I used a cookie icing recipe from the bakery where I work that calls for light corn syrup in place of the expensive meringue powder. It worked just as well as royal icing, and is now the recipe I am always going use for cookies! The icing recipe calls for almond extract which gave the cookies a wonderful flavor that sometimes is lacking in "plain" sugar cookies.

Even though it took ten hours, I had no reason to be afraid. I have been training for this "gig" my whole life. I have baked and iced hundred of cookies over the course of my lifetime and I learned that doing 200 at once is no impossible feat! I am just glad I was able to use my parents kitchen and large dining room table!

I have heard from several students that my cookies were a hit at the art opening and that every last cookie was eaten. My first individual catering experience was very positive and I hope to get another opportunity to push my baking limits again!

Ethel's Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup shortening (part butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring or 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and flavoring and mix until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Chill dough for at least 2 hours or overnight. 
Roll out on lightly floured board and bake for 8-12 minutes depending on size and thickness.


*I used half butter and half shortening for a cookie that was yummy, but still easy to work with.  

 

Cookie Icing

 From AllRecipes.com

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

*This recipe makes a VERY small amount of icing. Approx less than 1/2 cup. I ended up doing 15x this recipe to frost 200 cookies. 
**Instructions on how to use icing, including flooding techniques, can be found here.