Lemon lavender olive oil shortbread cookies, lemon lavender icing

    Shortbread cookies are small yummy cookies but a little too rich in butter for me, this is why I rarely some. Last summer, I was in vacation at my mum's in Aveyron (in the South West of France) and I happened to try some lemon lavender shortbread cookies in bulk from an organic supermarket where I had bought other groceries and I found the association of flavors quite interesting.

  Since then, I was willing to try to find a recipe and so I took advantage of the blogger competition organized by l'Afidol (l'Association Française Interprofessionnelle De l'OLive) et les Huiles d'olives & Olives de France that is a French professional association of olive oils and olives to try a recipe of shortbread cookies but using olive oil, much healthier and savory, instead of butter, usual ingredient of this cookies. 

   After a few trials, I finally succeeded to find a dough that stays together and offers a tasty flavor marriage. Just be careful to dose edible organic lavender and dose it with precaution. 

   I added a light lemon lavender icing on the shortbread cookies, it brings a little final sharp touch to complete the cookies but if you're not a great fan of lemon, you can skip it.

   The compulsory theme of the competition was "Enjoy a meal at work with the olive oils and comfortable home made dishes to take away", these shortbread cookies can be enjoyed at any time of the day at work or on the way home when craving a little something.

-> Recette en français ici.

Lemon lavender olive oil shortbread cookies, lemon lavender icing


Prep time : about 10 minutes
Rest time : 1 hour
Cook time : about 15 minutes
Serving : 15 to 20 shortbread cookies, depending of the size


Shortbread cookies

- 1 cup (160 g or 5,6 oz) flour, sifted
- 0,40 cup (55 g or 1,9 oz) icing sugar, sifted
- 1 small tsp edible organic lavender
- 1 pinch of salt
- the zest of a 1/2 organic lemon + 3 tbsp of its juice
- 1/3 cup (8 cl) subtle olive oil

Icing
 - 0,20 cup (25 g or 0,9 oz) icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 dash of lavender honey (optional)
- 1 pinch of organic edible lavender crushed b/w the fingers

• In a mixing bowl, pour the flour, the icing sugar, the chopped lavender, the salt, the lemon zest and juice, whisk well.

• Add the olive oil and mix again, first with a spoon then finish with the hands if needed until you can make a dough ball.

• Form a dough roll of the diameter you want to give your cookies, wrap in cellophane and freeze for about an hour, it will make it easier to cut them afterwards.

• With a sharp knife, cut slices of dough of the thickness you wish - make sure your cookies are as regular as possible for an homogeneous cooking. 

• Put the shortbread cookies on an oven tray covered with baking paper and bake in a warm oven at 160°c (320°F) for 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them from 10 minutes, they're ready when they're just golden, they will be soft when touching them but they harden once out of the oven. Let them cool down on a baking rack before icing them if you want to.

• Prepare the icing mixing the icing sugar with the lemon juice, the honey and lavender. Add more icing sugar if it's too liquid or more juice if it's too thick. Let the shortbread cookies on the rack with the baking paper under, pour the icing on the shortbread cookies with a spoon or a piping bag and let harden (half an hour in the fridge if you're in a hurry) before serving and enjoy with a nice cup of your favorite hot drink!

 

-> Recette en français ici.

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