Beautifully rich, Lemon Lavender Shortbread that is full of zesty lemon flavour with delicious subtle bursts of floral lavender flavour in every bite. It literally melts in your mouth!
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These Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies are unbelievably delicious and their texture is just perfect.
They 'snap', they 'crumble', and most importably they taste amazing with their sweet, zesty lemon flavour and delicious subtle bursts of floral lavender.
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If you have never tried cooking with lavender you might be a little wary of using it here but please don't be. The combination of the lemon and lavender is just beautiful. They are two flavours that work extremely well together especially in shortbread cookies.
Ingredients
Here's what you will be needing to make Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies:
And some notes on a couple of those:
- Sugar - Using the powdered sugar gives these Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies their characteristic melt in the mouth shortbread texture. The coarse sugar is for sprinkling on the top to add to the great texture.
- Lavender - For this recipe you need dried lavender buds. All varieties of lavender are edible but some taste better than others due to lower camphor levels. Lavandula Angustifolia, otherwise known as English Lavender is the best variety to use for cooking and is also a very common plant. I harvest mine from my garden. However, you really don't want your shortbread to end up tasting like cough medicine so unless you are very sure about the variety of your lavender, be safe and buy some culinary lavender. It can be found with the herbs and spices in most good grocery stores. You can also buy it online from Amazon here.
- Lemon - Just the lemon zest is used in this recipe because for the best shortbread texture it's best not to use much, if any liquid to bring the dough together. You could use the juice to make a simple powdered sugar lemon juice lemon glaze though!
Success tip - With shortbread cookie recipes it is really important that ingredients quantities are accurate. If they are off even just a tiny bit it will affect the outcome of the recipe. Because of this I highly recommend using a digital scale rather than measuring with cups.
Love lavender? be sure to check out my Blueberry Lavender Sauce, an if it's more lemon you're after make sure you try my easy self-saucing lemon puddings!
How to make Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
These are made in a similar way to any other kind of shortbread cookie. Here's how it's done:
- Cream the coconut oil or vegan butter with the powdered sugar and salt.
- Add the lemon zest, lavender and flour then combine everything together.
- Roll out the dough, cut the cookies and refrigerate for a short while before baking.
Success tip - For the best cookies the dough needs to stay cool. If at any point it starts getting too warm and melty (often an issue in the summer months), simply pop it in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes then pick up where you left off.
Storing & freezing
Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container. They should keep well for a couple of weeks.
Cookies can also be frozen:
- Uncooked: Make the cookies as directed and lay them out on a lined baking tray. Place the entire tray uncovered into your freezer. As soon as the cookies are solid you can remove them from the tray and place in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Bake as directed but add on an extra 2 minutes cooking time.
- Cooked: Place the cookies on a baking sheet and freeze until solid (this will prevent them from sticking to each other in the freezer). Then place in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag with parchment paper between any layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw cookies, place on a wire rack and let stand at room temperature for about an hour.
Tip - Try making lemon lavender sandwich cookies with my vegan lemon curd!
Hungry for more cookies?
Recipe
Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Author:Ingredients
- 42 grams ( ⅓ cup) powdered sugar
- 100g (½ cup) vegan butter or coconut oil , should be solid and chilled
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon fine sea salt , I like these cookies with a very slight salty edge so use half a teaspoon of salt. If you are sensitive to salty flavours then just use 1/4 teaspoon. Do not use table salt in this recipe.
- ½ to 1 teaspoon culinary lavender buds , the more you use the stronger the lavender flavour will be (rosemary or thyme work well instead!)
- zest of 2 lemons
- 165g (1⅓ cup) all purpose flour , (plain flour in the UK)
- up to 3 tablespoons plant milk , try not to any. Only add it if you really cannot get the dough to come together without
- optional coarse granulated sugar for sprinkling
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- Combine the powdered sugar, vegan butter/coconut oil and salt in a bowl. You can do this by hand with a fork (mash then beat it really well until you can no longer see any powdered sugar and it's light and fluffy) or with an electric hand mixer. Mix together until fluffy.
- Add the lavender flowers and lemon zest and stir to combine.
- Sieve in the flour and mix by hand until everything is combined. I start by mashing in the flour with a fork then stir together with a spoon at the end a bit. Do not over mix or use electric beaters here.Too much mixing will affect the texture of the finished shortbread.
- Add the milk only if you need to to bring the dough together. The dough should be slightly crumbly but hold together if you squeeze it together in your hand. The drier you can get away with keeping the dough and the less you handle it, the better the texture of your shortbread.
- Lightly dust a surface with flour and shape your dough gently into a ball. Roll out to about 3 - 4 mm thick then use a cookie cutter or mason jar lid to cut into shapes. The amount of cookies you get will depend on the size of your cookie cutter
- Place the cut cookies gently on the prepared cookie sheet, sprinkle with a little granulated sugar then refrigerate for at least 15 minutes until firm.
- Remove from the fridge and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.They will start turning a little golden around the edges when done but will still feel soft in the middle. They will crisp up as they cool. Everyones oven is different so time will vary slightly for everyone.
- Leave the cookies on the baking tray for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Unlike some cookies these are best eaten when completely cooled so be patient!
NOTES
- Uncooked: Make the cookies as directed and lay them out on a lined baking tray. Place the entire tray uncovered into your freezer. As soon as the cookies are solid you can remove them from the tray and place in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Bake as directed but add on an extra 2 minutes cooking time.
- Cooked: Place the cookies on a baking sheet and freeze until solid (this will prevent them from sticking to each other in the freezer). Then place in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag with parchment paper between any layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw cookies, place on a wire rack and let stand at room temperature for about an hour.
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Cynthia Diez says
I know this is vegan; Can I use 1:1 gluten free flour?
Melanie McDonald says
I haven't tested this recipe with gluten-free flour.
Anna says
Great recipe, but your recommended temp is too high and your time is too much. I use an oven thermometer so I know my oven is accurate and all other recipes I do just fine with. I spent quite some time making these cookies and spent quite a bit of money on the ingredients so to have them burn is extremely frustrating!
Melanie McDonald says
350°F for 10 to 12 minutes is not too high or too long for cookies. It's a standard, moderately low cooking temperature, and 10 to 12 minutes is a pretty standard time for any type of cookie. If you burnt them then that's a problem on your end. A standard-sized cookie can't possibly burn at 350°F after 10 to 12 minutes.
Debbie says
Made these for my colleagues and they all loved it! Though this was quite hard to make compared to many of the non-vegan shortbread recipes I have tried. I know this was mainly because of the use of hardened coconut oil, it meant the dough softened a lot quicker than recipes that used butter (I think because of the heat from working with hands). It wasn't a huge hurdle, I just had to work quickly. Thank you for the lovely recipe!
Ruby says
Best vegan AND non-vegan shortbread recipe out there! I love playing around with the flavors, like balsam fir and orange. I will have to say that trying to roll the dough out can be a crumbly mess, what I recommend is pressing out the dough with your hands to flatten it and then smoothing that out with a rolling pin for a neater look.
Kristin says
Love these cookies! I made a few adjustments including adding juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1 tablespoon of earth balance butter and about 2 tablespoons of dried lavender flowers and leaves. Giving 4 stars because there are very few cookies in the world that I feel are perfect. These are definitely worth a try!
Mandy says
These are amazing! I ended up having to use the milk and a tad more to get the dough to come together but turned out great! I shared this recipe in my Instagram acct @veganista_fuerst ? so good!
Emily says
Amazing recipe! I was so worried it would be too dry and crumbly when I was cutting them but they are the perfect shortbread texture. I didn’t have lemon and lavender so I used orange zest instead and they were wonderful. Can’t wait to try with lemon & lavender. Thank you!
Jamie says
These taste delicious and have a crisp texture, but the surfaces of the cookies feel oily, which is unpleasant. I followed the recipe exactly and measured by weight, so Im not sure if I did something wrong or if that's just the result of baking with a lot of coconut oil.
Daphne says
Lovely cookies! I've made them twice now and they're so good :D It's interesting how the lavender taste gets stronger with time, though these rarely survive the day after they were baked... Everyone I shared them with was super excited about them and it's been fun to make them guess the 'secret' ingredient, no one expects lavender in a cookie!
Love from Belgium!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Daphne. I'm really pleased you are enjoying them!
Lori Sue Fox says
This was my first time baking with Coconut Oil. The lemon flavor certainly came through, but I would make again using more lavender. I did you the juice of the lemon, instead of milk, to bring the dough together, and used my hand in the end to make a ball of the dough. This cookie in not a butter cookie, but does make a nice vegan alternative. Thank you for sharing.
Madison says
These are perfect!
Tara says
I just wanted to share with you a deep gratitude. I made these the other day for a small gathering and everyone loved them. It's such a relief to follow a recipe and have it turn out perfect on the first try!! I did have to use a bit of milk, but I chose full fat canned coconut milk and used 2 tablespoons.
Adi Jones says
Amazing! I love these cookies and make them every winter.
Siobhan says
I just made these last night and they are ridiculously good! I’ve been craving shortbread cookies for awhile and these were everything I wanted and more. I did have to add a little bit of plant milk to mine, I used unsweetened cashew milk. Will definitely be making these again!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed them Siobhan!
Nicole says
Love this recipe! I found it easier to work with in small batches. Breaking the dough into smaller sections and making a few cookies at a time. I don't add the lemon zest either. So good!
C. says
These turned out really well..
I replaced the lavender with 1 teabag of chamomile flowers.
The dough was difficult to roll out without falling apart; if treated gently and with patience the results are worth the effort.
Definitely compares well to conventional shortbread.
Thank you for the recipe.
Ashlee B says
Easy to follow recipe. Stellar flavor. Elegant appearance. Highly recommended. Thank you!
Judy Doan says
We Have a Winner!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. Since going vegan I have missed my (former) lavender shortbread cookies. With a doubtful mind, I tried your recipe....I couldn't resist and tried one while still warm: Mmmmmmmm delicious. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome Judy. I'm so pleased you enjoyed them!