The most delicious iced lemon lavender shortbread cookies made with fresh lemon zest, lemon juice and dried edible lavender. The cookies have a buttery, crumbly texture and wonderful lemon flavor with a subtle hint of lavender.
You might also like these high altitude tested recipes for lavender lemon cake, lavender lemonade honey popsicles, and iced lemon curd linzer cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Stays Fresh for Weeks. Shortbread cookies keep extremely well. They’ll stay tender and buttery for weeks in the refrigerator, and even longer in the freezer. You can make these cookies in advance, and then dip them in icing the day before you plan to serve them.
So Elegant. The smooth icing and sprinkling of edible lavender makes these lovely cookies as pretty to look at as they are delicious to eat. These lemon lavender shortbread cookies almost look like tiny little iced cakes or petit fours, fancy enough for any special occasion, from weddings, to bridal showers to high tea.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Since there’s no leavening in the cookies, today’s recipe will work at any altitude, though, without adjustments.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. All purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the cookies and the icing. The fine texture makes a more tender shortbread cookie than if you used granulated sugar.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Lemon. You’ll be using fresh lemon zest and juice in the cookie dough, and more lemon juice in the icing.
- Butter. A key ingredient in shortbread, the butter adds flavor, flakiness, and gives the cookies their classic crumbly but tender texture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Meringue Powder. Helps to quickly set the icing and keeps it dry and smooth, rather than soft and sticky.
- Dried Edible Lavender. When baking and cooking with lavender, less is more. The flavor can be quite potent, and if you overdo it, the lavender will overwhelm, rather than enhance your dish. Too much lavender will add a soapy flavor to your baking, but just the right amount adds wonderfully subtle floral notes of herbs and mint.
Instructions
Make, Cut and Chill the Dough
- In your food processor, measure the flour, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest and lavender. Pulse several times until well combined.
- With the processor running, drop the butter down the chute, a tablespoon at a time, and process the mixture until moist and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice, and process just until the dough comes together into a dough ball.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and gather any dry floury bits together, shaping the dough into a disk, and lightly dusting it with a little extra flour.
- Line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. So that the paper doesn’t slide around when you press in the dough, it helps to lightly grease the inside of the pan with butter, to get the paper to stick to the pan. Press the dough into an even layer into the pan.
- Now cut the dough into squares, using a sharp knife or bench scraper, dipping it in flour in between cuts. I used a bench scraper, which I find easiest for cutting dough inside the pan. Cutting the dough before baking makes it much easier to cut without breaking it after it comes out of the oven. For an 8-inch pan, cut the dough into 5×5 sections, for 25 cookies. For a 9-inch pan, you can cut the dough a bit smaller, into 6×6 sections, for 36 cookies.
- Use a toothpick, skewer or cake tester to prick the dough all over – this is called “docking the dough”, and helps prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
- Refrigerate the shortbread for 30 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the chilled shortbread for about 45 minutes, until the top looks golden brown and baked through.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and immediately cut the shortbread again. Cool completely in the pan before lifting the shortbread out of the pan by pulling it out by the paper.
Icing
- In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Stir in the lemon juice, until smooth and drizzly.
- Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing, lightly shake off the excess, then set the cookies down so the icing can dry and set. Before it sets (which happens quickly) you can sprinkle the top with some more dried lavender or lemon zest.
- Let the icing set and dry completely, at least 4-6 hours, before storing the cookies.
- Store the baked shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does shortbread stay fresh?
Shortbread cookies have a long shelf life. They’ll stay tender and buttery for weeks in the refrigerator, and even longer in the freezer. You can make these lavender lemon shortbread cookies in advance, and then dip them in icing the day before you plan to serve them.
Can I stack the iced cookies?
The icing will quickly dry to the touch, but I wouldn’t stack the cookies until the icing has fully cured. Personally, I would store them in a single layer for at least one day, to allow the icing to fully cure, before stacking the cookies. Separate stacked cookies with layers of wax paper or parchment paper.
Where can I buy culinary lavender?
You can purchase culinary lavender online, or find it in your local tea and spice shops, as well as specialty grocery stores.
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Iced Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- zest of 1 small lemon
- ½ tsp dried edible lavender
- ¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp fresh or bottled lemon juice
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- 2 ½ – 3 tbsp fresh or bottled lemon juice
- dried edible lavender, or lemon zest, for decorating
Instructions
Make, Cut and Chill the Dough
- In your food processor, measure the flour, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest and lavender. Pulse several times until well combined.
- With the processor running, drop the butter down the chute, a tablespoon at a time, and process the mixture until moist and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice, and process just until the dough comes together into a dough ball.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and gather any dry floury bits together, shaping the dough into a disk, and lightly dusting it with a little extra flour.
- Line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. So that the paper doesn't slide around when you press in the dough, it helps to lightly grease the inside of the pan with butter, to get the paper to stick to the pan. Press the dough into an even layer into the pan.
- Now cut the dough into squares, using a sharp knife or bench scraper, dipping it in flour in between cuts. I used a bench scraper, which I find easiest for cutting dough inside the pan. Cutting the dough before baking makes it much easier to cut without breaking it after it comes out of the oven. For an 8-inch pan, cut the dough into 5×5 sections, for 25 cookies. For a 9-inch pan, you can cut the dough a bit smaller, into 6×6 sections, for 36 cookies.
- Use a toothpick, skewer or cake tester to prick the dough all over – this is called "docking the dough", and helps prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
- Refrigerate the shortbread for 30 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the chilled shortbread for about 45 minutes, until the top looks golden brown and baked through.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and immediately cut the shortbread again. Cool completely in the pan before lifting the shortbread out of the pan by pulling it out by the paper.
Icing
- In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Stir in the lemon juice, until smooth and drizzly.
- Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing, lightly shake off the excess, then set the cookies down so the icing can dry and set. Before it sets (which happens quickly) you can sprinkle the top with some more dried lavender or lemon zest.
- Let the icing set and dry completely, at least 4-6 hours.
- Store the baked shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Has anyone tried to make this with a gluten-free flour?
I am trying this tomorrow with a gluten free 1:1 flour so I will report back!
Never used lavender before and let me tell you I can’t wait to make these again. I made these for my nieces honey and lavender baby shower. These were so delicious and perfect for a garden party. Everyone loved them. Thank you these were so perfect.