Sweet, chewy, and delicately floral cookies made with lavender buds are the latest cookie jar favorite in my house. These lavender cookies have chewy centers and barely crisp edges. They're nothing like shortbread cookies; they're a classic sugar cookie punctuated with the incredible scent and flavor of lavender buds.
My regular easy sugar cookie recipe has been on rotation in our house almost weekly for years. I even have friends that bake the recipe often with their kids, because it's so simple. It makes just 6 cookies, which is the perfect amount for little hands.
For these lavender cookies, I simply took that same cookie recipe but I blended a small amount of lavender buds into the granulated sugar before proceeding with the recipe. It's perfect if you sip my Iced London Fog while you bake, too!
You can use lavender buds from your backyard garden (just make sure they haven't been sprayed) or you can pick up culinary dried lavender buds. If you love the relaxing scent of lavender and enjoy the delicate flavor, you have to make these cookies!
Ingredients
These ingredients are basic baking essentials, with the exception of dried lavender buds. If you have some leftover from my London fog drink, you can use them here.
- Butter. Since this is a small batch recipe, we only need half a stick of butter, or 2 ounces/ 4 tablespoons. We will melt this completely, so there's no need to ensure it's room temperature before baking.
- Granulated Sugar.
- Lavender. A very small amount of dried culinary lavender buds is all we need--just ½ teaspoon. If you use lavender from your yard, make sure it hasn't been sprayed. I like this brand, since it's grown in France, an area known for incredible lavender production.
- Egg Yolk. We only need the egg yolk for this recipe, not the whole egg! If you double the recipe, use two eggs yolks, not the whole egg. If you triple this lavender cookies recipe, use three egg yolks.
- Vanilla Extract.
- Flour.
- Baking Soda.
- Salt.
How to Make Lavender Cookies
This cookies come together in just minutes, truly. I especially love that it uses melted butter for the dough so I don't have to wait up to an hour for butter to soften before baking!
First, preheat the oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a silicone mat). Next, place the sugar and lavender buds in a mini food processor. Pulse a few times to break up the lavender.
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl, add the lavender sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Stir very well to combine.
Sprinkle the flour, baking soda and salt evenly over the other ingredients in the bowl. Stir just to combine, until it comes together into sugar cookie dough.
To evenly divide the dough into pieces, use this trick: press the dough flat in the bowl. Divide it in half with a spatula, and then divide each half into thirds by eye. You will end up with 6 roughly similar-sized lavender cookies.
Space the cookies evenly on the baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. They will spread and start to crackle. They will appear dry on top.
Let the lavender cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet. They will flatten and crinkle more as they cool. Move to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
These cookies are delightful for an afternoon snack, just like my Tea Cakes. They're also very cute and giftable in clear snack bags.
Equipment to Bake Lavender Cookies:
In case you need a few tools to bake perfect cookies, I'll share my list of kitchen favorites.
- Small Sheet Pan - You can use a regular large cookie sheet, but I like this quarter sheet pan for baking all of my small batch cookies.
- Silicone Baking Mat - Instead of parchment paper, I use this silicone mat. Not only is it reusable because it's completely washable, it helps heat transfer more evenly, resulting in more perfectly round cookies.
- Cooling Rack - Cookies have the best texture if they cool completely after baking. This is the small wire cooling rack I love.
Storage
This recipe only makes 6 cookies, so I don't need to say much about long term storage. I don't recommend making the dough in advance and freezing it, because it changes the baking time. Simply put, just make the cookie dough and bake them the same day. If you happen to have leftovers, keep them at room temperature in an airtight bag.
Lavender Cookies
Small batch of lavender cookies that taste like lavender sugar cookies.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon culinary grade lavender buds
- 1 large egg yolk (no white)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (96 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a silicone mat).
- Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and melt it in the microwave in 25 second intervals until fully melted. Keep an eye on it because if it gets too hot, it will splatter.
- In a small food processor, combine the sugar and lavender buds and pulse a few times to break the buds into small pieces. Cover the food processor while you pulse so the sugar doesn’t fly out.
- Stir together the melted butter, lavender sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Stir very well to combine.
- Next, sprinkle the flour, baking soda and salt evenly over the dough, and stir just to combine.
- Press the dough flat and evenly in the bowl, and then divide it in half by eye. You should get 3 cookies from each half.
- Evenly space the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, until they spread, start to crackle and appear dry on top. - Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Lavender: I recommend culinary lavender or lavender buds from your yard that you can ensure were not sprayed with any kind of pesticide or insecticide. If you add more than ½ teaspoon, it can taste soapy, so even if you adore lavender, please measure precisely.
Egg Yolk: We only need the egg yolk for this recipe, not the whole egg! If you double the recipe, use two eggs yolks, not the whole egg. If you triple the recipe, use three egg yolks, etc.
Storage: This recipe only makes 6 cookies. Store leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container. I don't recommend making the dough in advance and freezing it, because it changes the baking time. I also don't recommend freezing already baked cookies, because they seem to dry out when frozen and then become overly soft when thawed.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 169mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 3g
Bonnie says
Oh, Christina! Last week you had a recipe I could use with my pear recipe and NOW cookies to use my lavender in! You are a wonder! Thanks. (And you make my poor little Thanksgiving for The Husband and me perfect, even though I still make a 14 pound turkey. Leftovers, you know)
Karen says
So delish!!! I actually divided even further to have 12 tea cookies. Just enough lavender! Love these! Thank you!
Jane says
Has anyone tried these with added lemon juice/zest? Lavender lemon combo is my favorite!
Ronda says
So delicious! I did not read directions about pulsing lavender a few times and pulsed the living foo out of the sugar and lavender (it still kept lavender in tact but released a lot more flavor). I was worried it would make cookies bitter but turned out lavender front but with no bitterness. Still definitely tasted sugar cookie too. Thank you for recipe :)