Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Before we get to these cookies, this seems like as good a time as any to introduce you to Esteban, the newest member of my kitchen tools family. I'd been wanting a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for years, and eventually decided I'd get myself one for my 35th birthday. Well, then I discovered they're not quite as expensive as I'd thought, so I decided to not wait for 35. Then they were on sale, and the sale ended on my birthday, which seemed like a sign from the kitchen gods. And the nice lady at Bed Bath & Beyond let me use a 20% off coupon even though it was already very much on sale. Win! Also, when she asked if I wanted a gift receipt, I said yes, because I felt selfish buying a big-ticket item for myself. Does anyone else do that?

In case you're interested in specs, I got the KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series 5-quart tilt-head stand mixer with pouring shield in Empire Red. This article was super helpful in helping me decide which model to get.

Anyway, Esteban has been settling in nicely and churning out scrumptious breads and cookies. He's a stud when it comes to kneading yeast dough. But not too studly to scoff at mixing up shortbread cookies with flowers in them.

Oh hey, what a segue! I made these cookies for house church Easter feast. Since I apparently felt the need to make a million of them, there were leftovers that got to go to the office with me on Monday. Initially I wasn't planning to post this recipe (hence my comment below about not remembering how much lavender to use in the lavender sugar--oops), but the praise from friends and coworkers was effusive enough that it seemed only right to snap a few pics and share the recipe. They may seem kinda froufrou, but the men in my life were enjoying them at least as much as the women.

This may go without saying, but be sure to culinary lavender, which you can often find with other dried herbs in the grocery store. Personally, I like to buy it at Natural Grocers because for just a few bucks you can get a bag that is quite large. Seriously, I shared about half of my lavender with a friend and still had enough to almost fill a pint-sized mason jar. Lots of fresh lavender flowers at nurseries and florists have been treated with pesticides you don't want in your cookies.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from Port and Fin
Yield: about 30 cookies

Ingredients
2-1/4 cups unsalted butter (that's 4-1/2 sticks), softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. dried lavender buds
Zest from about 3/4 of a lemon
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
5-1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/8 tsp. salt
Lavender sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions
First, get out your butter so it can soften at room temperature.

Grind or very finely chop your lavender. I used a Magic Bullet; you could use another small electric grinder/chopper, a mortar and pestle, a clean coffee grinder, or a good old fashioned knife and cutting board. In a small bowl, combine the lavender, sugar, and lemon zest. Mix it up well and set aside, ideally for at least 15 minutes so the flavors can infuse.

If you're using lavender sugar, make that now while you have your lavender-grinding implements out. Basically, grind up some lavender and mix it with sugar, like you just did above. I forgot to write down the quantities I used for this, but I think I did about 1-1/2 tsp. lavender buds for about 1/3 cup sugar. That yielded way more lavender sugar than needed for dusting 30 cookies, so I'm looking forward to finding ways to use up the rest of it.

In a good-sized bowl,* cream the butter and sugar-lavender-lemon mixture until well combined. (Use the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.) Add the vanilla and mix some more, until it's incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture, and keep on mixing until a dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a clean countertop, divide it roughly in half, and shape into two logs that are about 2 to 2-1/4 inches in diameter. Flatten each side of the logs (to produce squareish cookies). Wrap each log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the dough firm up.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove cookie dough from the fridge and use a sharp knife to slice cookies off the logs. Aim for about 1/3 inch thick. I know we don't normally think in terms of a third of an inch (why is that?), but 1/4 inch felt too thin, but a 1/2 inch would have been too thick. Arrange cookies on baking sheets that aren't greased or lined with parchment paper or anything. Leave a little room for the cookies to spread.

Bake for 10-14 minutes. You want them to still be kinda soft, but a little browned on the bottom.** Gently remove cookies to a wire rack. Sprinkle with lavender sugar (or plain sugar) while they cool.

Notes
*My 5-quart bowl was veeerry full. Esteban technically did okay with this quantity of cookie dough, but he struggled a bit and spit out some flour a couple times.
**The best way to check for brownness on the bottom is to lift up a cookie with a spatula, try to finagle the your body and the cookie so you can see the bottom, inevitably drop or break the cookie in the process, and be forced to eat the poor broken cookie. Lest it feel neglected.

Apricot Rose Tartines

One of the food delights I'm enjoying this year is a monthly gathering with a few foodie friends. Each month we pick a theme (like chocolate or pasta), and create a menu based on that theme. This month's theme was a spring-inspired high tea, with a menu infused with edible flowers and herbs. My contributions were these apricot rose tartines and some cucumber radish tartines.

I looked at a bunch of recipes, and drew inspiration especially from recipes in Wild Spice and Honey and Co., but ended up cobbling together something pretty distinct from anything I found online or in my slowly growing cookbook library. If I were a really legit food blogger, I'd make these tartines again to refine the ingredient quantities, instructions, and photography before blogging about them. But who has time for that? (And who can eat that much mascarpone without becoming ill or large?) So I've done my best to capture what I did, but these tartines were far from an exact science.

Apricot Rose Tartines
Yield: about 40 tartines
HercheyK original

Ingredients
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup water
6 whole black peppercorns
1/2 of a cinnamon stick
Approximately 40 dried apricots
1 tsp. orange blossom water
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup fresh rose petals, very finely chopped
1 Tbsp. dried lavender buds
Fresh lemon zest, from about 1/2 of a lemon
Fresh orange zest, from about 1/3 of a medium-small orange
1 (8.3-oz.) baguette, sliced into rounds
A couple handfuls shelled pistachios
Fresh mint

Directions
To a medium saucepan add sugar, water, peppercorns (keep them whole), and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so it's somewhere between a rapid simmer and a slow boil. Let the mixture cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.

While the sugar mixture is cooking, cut up your apricots into fat matchsticks--about 4 sticks per apricot. When your apricots are cut and your sugar mixture is finished cooking, fish out the cinnamon stick and peppercorns. Add the orange blossom water and the cut apricots to the pot. Stir it so the apricots get nicely coated with the syrup. Breathe in the glorious fragrance. Put a lid on the pot and pop it into the fridge (on a potholder) to chill and steep.

To make the spread, combine the mascarpone, rose petals, lavender, lemon zest, and orange zest in a bowl. Stir to combine well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble the tartines.

Slice the baguette into rounds. I ended up with I think 43 slices not counting the ends, but it'll vary based on the exact length of your baguette and how thick your slices are.

Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat and toast the pistachios for a few minutes, until they just start to toast. Be sure to shake or stir them frequently to keep them from burning. Remove them to a plate to cool. Chop them fairly finely.

Now's a great time to wash your fresh mint and set it out to air-dry. Right before assembling the tartines, chiffonade the fresh mint. Chiffonade is basically just a fancy way to say, slice it into really thin threads.

When the apricot mixture has chilled sufficiently, assemble your tartines. Spread each with a schmear of the mascarpone mixture. Arrange a few apricot pieces on top--about the equivalent of one apricot per tartine. Sprinkle pistachios over the top. Finally, top with a few ribbons of fresh mint.

Note: If you don't have orange blossom water, squeeze in some fresh orange juice or add some orange zest to the sugar-apricot mixture. It won't give you the same floral quality you'll get from orange blossom water, but it should still be quite yummy. However, I very much recommend getting some orange blossom water! It tastes truly magical, and you can get it on Amazon if you can't find it locally. For more orange blossom water uses, see my Orange Blossom Iced Tea post and the Tunisian Orange Almond Cake recipe linked in my Flavor Trip to Tunisia post.

Savory Bread Pudding

This dish was lovely, light, creamy, and brunchy. I felt like I should be sitting out on a sunny veranda eating this with a glass of juice and a side of fruit, perhaps with an ocean or lake on the horizon. The flavor was very light and mild. One reviewer said it was bland, so that's why I added a bit of Rocky Mountain Seasoning. You could add virtually any herb that strikes your fancy, or perhaps a bit of garlic and/or Parmesan.

The original recipe called for goat cheese, which I don't always care for, so I used queso fresco instead. I imagine Feta would also be good in this.

Savory Bread Pudding

Printer friendly version
Adapted from Cooking Light
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 lb. white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used half of an Italian loaf)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) crumbled queso fresco cheese
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. Rocky Mountain Seasoning (optional)
1 large egg
2 egg whites
1/8 cup sliced green onions

Directions
Spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with cooking spray, and arrange bread in it.

Combine half of the queso fresco, milk, cottage cheese, pepper, Rocky Mountain Seasoning, egg, and egg whites in a bowl, whisking well. Pour mixture evenly over bread; press bread down into the liquid, if needed. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup queso fresco over the top. Let stand for approximately 30 minutes. (Alternatively, you could cover and refrigerate over night, then remove from fridge about 30 minutes before baking.)

Preheat oven to 350. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until set and golden. Sprinkle with green onions before serving.

Nutrition Information (per serving): 
261 calories; 6.1 g. fat; 65 mg. cholesterol; 629.9 mg. sodium; 34.7 g. carbohydrate; 1.4 g. fiber; 17.4 g. protein; 2.6 g. sugar

Lavender Lemon Scones

I don't have a whole lot to say, but these scones were outstanding. Normally I have pretty good self-control when it comes to food, but I ate three (or was it four?) of these babies in one sitting. They're just very light, and yummy.

I feel like scones are supposed to puff up a little more than mine did. Which, now that I'm typing out the recipe, I realize I accidentally left out the baking powder. Fortunately the texture wasn't dense at all.

My coworkers approved of these.

Lavender Lemon Scones

Adapted slightly from Bon Appetit
Yield: 16 servings
Printer-friendly

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. dried lavender buds
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. buttermilk, divided
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (the zest of one lemon)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. sanding or granulated sugar (I used 1 Tbsp. granulated)
1-1/2 cups store-bought lemon curd (I left this out)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk 3 cups flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter; mix with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, lemon zest, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until shaggy dough forms. (Can I just say I like the term "shaggy dough"?)

Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead until dough forms, about 5 turns. Pat into a 10x6" rectangle. Halve dough lengthwise into two squares. Cut each half crosswise into 4 squares. Cut each square diagonally in half into 2 triangles. Divide between baking sheets. Brush with 2 Tbsp. buttermilk. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake until scones are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 13-15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature (warm is best!), with lemon curd if desired.

Nutrition info is available on Bon Appetit's site; calories and sugar will definitely be lower if you leave out the lemon curd like I did.