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.

Blueberry Lavender Freezer Jam

I absolutely adore blueberries. They are my favorite berry and lucky for me they are one of the healthiest foods there is. As with many other fruits, I went blueberry picking this summer. In total we picked about 20 pounds of blueberries and bought another fifteen.

(Random fact: while picking blueberries I picked a kitten as well. I had been wanting a kitten and there they were running around the blueberry patch! The owner said I could have one, so now I have more than just frozen blueberries from that trip, I also have Berry the cat!) 

In order to preserve some of the delicious blueberries I decided to make blueberry jam. But not just any blueberry jam, lavender blueberry jam (are you sick of my lavender posts yet?).

As with my lavender lemon bars I used lavender sugar to give this jam the faintest fragrance of lavender. At first I couldn't taste it, but as I swallowed it lingered on your tongue. I think it is an absolutely marvelous combination! 

I decided to make this a freezer jam so I didn't have to fuss with making real jam. But this combination can easily be made into canned jam (just make sure you follow a different blueberry jam recipe for the traditional canning process).

Since I am posting this quite a few weeks (ok, maybe months!) after I picked blueberries and made this jam, I would like to point out that this jam can be made just as deliciously with frozen blueberries. Just thaw them out and you're good to go!

Blueberry Lavender Freezer Jam

Adapted from the recipe inside Sure-Jell Pectin box

• 3 cups crushed blueberries
• 5 1/4 cups lavender sugar (recipe follows)
• 1 box pectin
• 3/4 cup water

1. Wash and rinse plastic containers with tight fitting lids. Use 1 to 2 cup size containers. 
2. Prepare blueberries by discarding stems and crushing (or blending in a food processor). 
3. Measure 3 cups crushed blueberries in a bowl and add 5 1/4 cups lavender sugar. Let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Stir 1 box pectin and 3/4 cup water in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, sitting constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 
5. Stir pectin mixture into fruit or juice mixture. Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy, about 3 minutes. 
6. Pour into prepared containers, leaving 1/2 inch space at the top for expansion during freezing, cover. 
7. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours until set. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks. Otherwise, store in freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator.

Lavender Sugar

•  1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp dried lavender flowers.

Combine sugar and 2 tbsp dried lavender in an airtight container and let sit for at least two days, preferably more. Sift out lavender before using. Multiple this recipe as many times as necessary. 

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.

2010 Lavender Festival

If I had to pick one flavor that defined this summer for me I would undoubtedly choose lavender. Many people don't immediately think of food when they hear the word lavender...but I do. Traditionally lavender is used mostly as a scent, for oils, candles, lotions and deodorants. But when I hear the word lavender I think of all the wonderful things I can eat that are flavored with the wonderful floral taste of lavender.

I can pinpoint the day when my fascination with culinary lavender first began. It was the night when my roommate Heather brought home some lavender truffles from the high-end restaurant where she worked at the time, Jory. These truffles were some of the most decadent things I have ever placed in my mouth. The fragrant lavender blended so well with the creamy and rich dark chocolate.

Willakenzie's booth at the Yamhill lavender festival

Since then I have been on the hunt to find all kinds of culinary applications for lavender. I hit what seemed like the jackpot one day at a Portland Farmers Market when I got to taste and eventually purchase two utterly delicious, yet very different lavender products.

The first product was lavender cheddar from the Rogue Creamery located in Medford Oregon, my absolute favorite local creamery. It was really fun getting to taste lavender being used in a savory application, and it was the perfect combination. The second product that day I got to taste was lavender jam from Sundance Lavender Farm located in Salem Oregon. They produce eight different varieties of lavender jams, but my favorite combination was lavender and blueberry.

While I was visiting Sundance's booth at the Farmers Market I picked up a flier for the 2010 lavender festival (July 10-11th) . Initially I had no idea what the lavender festival was about, but regardless, I knew I had to go. Upon reading the brochure I learned that many different lavender farms around Oregon are opening up for visitors. Many have music, food, crafts, and lavender products to purchase.

The first place I visited the day of the Lavender Festival was the small Lavender Festival located in Yamhill Oregon. This was the only destination on the festival tour route that wasn't located at an actual farm. Instead, many local farms had booths here so that visitors could purchase products from many different farms all in one place.

I looked around the festival, testing a few lotions, smelling a few candles and even buying a bouquet of lavender, but the real reason I was here was to learn about different ways to eat lavender. Much to my delight it wasn't long before I found a food stand selling different lavender goodies. I purchased a lavender lemonade and a lavender scone and was in for a real treat! The lemonade was heavenly, and perfectly thirst quenching on an 80 degree day--I have now decided that lavender and lemon is one of my favorite combinations!  The scone had a delicate but present lavender taste, and was such a treat!

Lavender Scone

I then visited two lavender farms, Wild Rain and Willakenzie. Wild Rain had a great location with a beautiful lavender field and access to the river, but Willakenzie had the culinary products I had been looking for! They sold lavender salt, lavender pepper, lavender sugar, a kit to make lavender simple syrup, and culinary lavender. They also were selling lavender sorbet for the festival, it was very sweet but tasted just right on the hot day.

It was an absolutely perfect day and inspired me to start trying recipes with lavender. In fact, just yesterday I was recipe testing to create a lavender cookie, look for that blog post soon! (Here is the recipe for Lavender Lemon Bars!)

Lavender Sorbet

Here is the lavender simple syrup recipe you can use to sweeten lemonade (or any drink!), pour over a cake or fruit, or use in a sorbet recipe.

Lavender Simple Syrup

From ZoeBakes.com

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
 3 tablespoons dried or fresh lavender flowers


In a sauce pot bring the water, sugar and lavender to a simmer.

Allow to simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off heat and let sit until cool. Use or store in the refrigerator for up to a month. The longer you let the lavender steep in the simple syrup the stronger the flavor will be. I store it in the refrigerator with the flowers still in the syrup and strain it when I need it in a recipe.

Attention! The bakery where I work, Sweetest Thing Cupcakes, in Newberg is now offering a lavender cupcake during the month of August! Super yummy!