Lavender Shortbread

One of the local cupcake shops sells a lavender cupcake. I think this was my first experience eating something flavored with what I always assumed was merely potpourri.

Well, we were hooked. The lavender gives a very subtle flavor that's... well, almost indescribable other than to say that it tastes just like it smells.

Fast forward to today and our front yard.

That's a lavender plant at least 3 feet in diameter. Well, since I had a day off from work, I decided to experiment. I made lavender shortbread.

Ingredients (* = local, & = organic)

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature &
• 1/3 cup diabetisweet (sugar substitute)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped lavender florets *
• 2 1/3 cups Emmer flour *&
• 1/2 cup cornstarch *
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Now, you might be asking yourself why the lavender isn't marked as organic as it came from our yard. Well, we rent, and the landlords have a garden service. I've asked them not to spray, but I can't guarantee they haven't. However, you can't be more local than right out the front door.

Directions:

Cream the butter, sugar, and lavender until light and fluffy. Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix well. Divide the dough in half and form into squares. Seal in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

Preheat the oven to 325. Roll the dough until it's about half an inch thick and cut into squares. I used a pizza cutter for this. Place squares on parchment paper or a silpat and pierce each several times with a fork.  

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.

These were very good. Since we used Emmer flour, they will be higher fiber and protein than with regular flour. They were a bit crumbly, which I expect for shortbread, but they might have been a bit less crumbly with regular flour. We'll definitely make these again. I was even pleased with how substituting half the sugar worked. I'm always nervous about substituting fake sugar for real sugar in a baking recipe, but these worked quite well.