Best Scottish Shortbread Recipe Since Robert Redford

Friend Natalie served Lavender Shortbread cookies last week.  She had tried several recipes using lavender, and declared this was the best one, first published in Sunset Magazine in the 1970's.  Credit goes not only to Nat for finding it, but also to a person named M.C. from East Palo Alto, California for having it published in the magazine.

Daughter Julie's birthday is next week, so I'll be sending her some lavender cookies and some zucchini bread, along with trinkets to open.  For those of you who have followed Julie's progress with her surgeries and her chemo and radiation, she is doing pretty well, all things considered.  She has an aide who comes in twice a day, and great doctors.  Her champion husband Jack takes her to appointments and occasionally they go to Fatz, their favorite restaurant in Rock Hill, SC.

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Here is some culinary lavender purchased in Colorado that I used for the cookies:

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Happy Birthday, Julie!



And linking with Fiber Arts Friday, here is my more than half way completed Seriously Simple Shawl by Wendy Johnson.  Details on Ravelry are here.

Lavender Shortbread Recipe:

Combine 1 1/4 cups regular all purpose flour (unsifted), 3 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter (cold) cut in chunks, and 1/2 tsp. chopped lavender.  With your hands work mixture until it is very crumbly and no large particles remain; then press mixture into a firm lump with your hands.  Place dough (it is crumbly) in an 8 or 9 inch spring form cake pan and press out firmly, evenly. Impress edge of the dough with the tines of a fork, then prick surface evenly. 

Bake is a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a pale golden brown.  Remove from oven and while warm, cut with a sharp knife into small wedges and sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp. sugar.  Let cool, then remove pan rim and transfer cookies to a serving tray or airtight container.  Keep at room temperature as long as a week; freeze for longer storage.