Lavender sugar is available to purchase, but you can make your own by making a lavender bag from a small handful of lavender petals sewn into a small cotton pouch. Put this into a jar containing 1 cup sugar and leave it for 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.
MAKES: 8 shortbread cookies
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) soy margarine or nondairy butter
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2–3 tbsp. lavender sugar, for dusting
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and lightly grease a cookie sheet.
- In a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt. Pulse a few times to sift and combine the dry ingredients.
- Cut the soy margarine or nondairy butter into chunks and add them to the flour mixture, along with the superfine sugar and lemon zest.
- Pulse the mixture in the food processor until the fat is fully incorporated. If you don’t have a food processor, you can rub the margarine or butter into the dry ingredients using your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then, stir in the sugar and lemon zest.
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it together until it forms a cohesive dough.
- Roll out the dough into a circle that is approximately 1/3 inch thick. Crimp the edges either with your thumb and forefinger or with a fork.
- Prick the surface of the shortbread dough all over with a fork and mark it into 8 wedges. Alternatively, you can press the dough into a 1/3-inch-thick rectangle, prick it all over, and mark it into fingers.
- Transfer the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly golden.
- Remove the shortbread from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then, cut it into segments according to the marked wedges or fingers, and transfer the pieces to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust the cooled shortbread with the lavender sugar for added flavor and decoration.
- Enjoy the delicate and fragrant lavender lemon shortbread cookies with a cup of tea or coffee.
VARIATIONS:
TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD
- Prepare the basic recipe, using 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup rice flour and omitting the lemon zest. Dust with superfine sugar instead of lavender sugar.
GINGER SHORTBREAD
- Prepare the basic recipe, using 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger in place of the lemon zest. Dust with superfine sugar instead of lavender sugar.
LAVENDER-DUSTED PECAN SHORTBREAD
- Prepare the basic recipe, using 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans in place of the lemon zest.
CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD
- Prepare the basic recipe, using 1/3 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips in place of the lemon zest. There is no need to dust these cookies with additional sugar after cooking.
