Dear friends, welcome back. Today I offer you my new cookies, Lavender Christmas Cookies (and almonds). 😊
My recipe for the Christmas edition of our usual Monday Light and Tasty column.
Have you ever tried using lavender in cooking?
Honestly, I hadn’t until now. This is the very first lavender recipe I try. And the result was surprising.
Years ago, I had an early experience with lavender in cooking (in that case it was added to bread) during a cooking workshop my children attended when they were very young, one of those afternoons spent at an educational farm, which also included the ‘hands-on dough’ moment. Among the various aromatic herbs the children had to add to the bread dough was lavender, a novelty for us parents, which amazed us and in our inexperience we simply cataloged as a ‘thing for kids’, and that was the end of it.
But history has a way of repeating itself.
These days I met a friend, Silvia, who for some years has combined her artistic activity as a mosaic artist with that of a lavender grower, and a producer of everything revolving around the scent of lavender. A real sensory journey.
Now. Now that my move is about to complete its 17-year circular journey. Now that I am renovating my house, and reopening boxes that I hadn’t opened for years, and that we are recovering objects, discs, books, that for all this time relatives and friends have kept for us waiting for the journey to close. Now, a few days ago, I brought home a bag of very fragrant lavender, along with the mountain of art books (which I had even forgotten I owned!) that Silvia returned to me after keeping them for me… near her lavender. 🤩 And, I swear, the books now smell like lavender!
And that’s exactly how these lavender Christmas cookies were born. They were born while I was tasting a lavender cookie at Paolo and Silvia’s house, they were born while the memory of lavender rolls made by a seven-year-old Flavia resurfaced from the past, they were born while Paolo allowed me to ‘steal’ some recipes from his book dedicated to lavender, and while we loaded four boxes of fragrant books into the car.
All beautiful things. 🌟
〰〰〰
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 25-30 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
Two preliminary pieces of information:
👉 The ingredients and their dosage are my adaptation of a recipe (from that old book mentioned above) that included butter and a part of corn flour. I replaced the butter with oil (and reduced the quantity) and replaced the cornmeal with an equal weight of all-purpose flour.
👉 The recipe in the book did not specify how much lavender to use (perhaps to allow freedom of personal taste): I used a teaspoon, to my taste the right amount.
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup potato starch
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp corn or sunflower seed oil
- 2 tbsp finely chopped almonds
- 1 tsp lavender flowers
- 1 tsp baking powder (level)
Tools
- Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutter
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
How to Prepare Lavender Christmas Cookies
Prepare the shortcrust pastry by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl until you get a dough ball.
Place the dough in the fridge for about half an hour, then roll it out with a rolling pin to the desired thickness, I usually do half a centimeter.
Cut the dough with Christmas-themed cookie cutters.
Place the cookies on a baking tray or oven sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven at 340-355°F for 10, up to 15, minutes.
These lavender cookies give off a wonderful aroma both during and after baking.
Even the next day they continue to smell, and… be warned!, if other types of cookies are added to the cookie jar, they will absorb the lavender scent! 😀
I have deliberately kept these lavender cookies for a few days, open, on a simple plate, and they remained crumbly and crunchy.
Try them!
Merry Lavender Christmas to all of you! 🌸
I invite you to visit my friend’s Facebook page or Instagram of Silvia Stanzani Mosaics & Lavender. I’m sure you’ll be enchanted by the lavender scent!
I’ll see you:
In my new WhatsApp channel and, believe it or not! I’m also on Instagram! 😀
As always, you can find me on my Facebook page, on my Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Just what I was looking for! and in my Newsletter.
As always, you can find me on my Facebook page, on my Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Just what I was looking for! and in my Newsletter.
Light and Tasty:
And now – last but not least! – here are the recipes of my colleagues from the Light and Tasty Team, all dedicated to Christmas:
Carla Emilia: Salad with Radicchio, Grapefruit, and Salmon
Cinzia: Spiced Apple Chips with Dehydrator
Daniela: Chicken Legs with Cranberries and Oranges
Elena: Shrimp, Fennel, and Red Grapefruit Salad
Milena: Coconut and Lemon Jelly (to prepare with kids)
Carla Emilia: Salad with Radicchio, Grapefruit, and Salmon
Cinzia: Spiced Apple Chips with Dehydrator
Daniela: Chicken Legs with Cranberries and Oranges
Elena: Shrimp, Fennel, and Red Grapefruit Salad
Milena: Coconut and Lemon Jelly (to prepare with kids)
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
I didn’t know lavender was edible. What properties does it have?
Lavender, in dried flowers and as an essence, contains micronutrients and has relaxing properties. It provides vitamin A, calcium, and iron.
But lavender… what does it taste like?
It has a very aromatic aftertaste reminiscent of rosemary. 🙂
