Lemon-Lavender Tea Cookies

I come from a long line of tea drinkers. More specifically, I come from a line of Red Rose tea drinkers. As early as I can remember, as soon as it hit about 7pm my parents would begin their daily ritual of making tea, forgetting it on the counter, then chipperly setting about making more. We Cains rarely vary in our tea tastes. My sister Piper has shirked tradition somewhat by embracing the more radical realm of PG Tips, but I remain steadfast in my loyalty to Red Rose. In fact, it's gotten to the point where one of my boyfriend's favorite jokes is:

Peter: What are you up to?
Me: Drinking tea.
Peter: Oh yeah? What kind?
(proceeds to chuckle heartily to himself for a minute and a half)

Get it? Because I only drink one kind of tea.

But the glorious thing about even the most devoted one-tea people is that we nevertheless embrace all sorts of accoutrements to go along with our daily cup--the odd scone, piece of toast, crumpet, you name it. And when it comes to tea cookies...well, guys, I don't think tea cookies get much more perfect than this.

I present to you: the lavender-lemon shortbread tea cookie. Not too sweet, beautifully buttery, with a kick of lemon and just a hint of fragrant lavender. Nothing is better for those afternoons were you just need to pause, take a deep breath and enjoy a good hot cup of tea.

For this recipe I teamed up with my good friend Hallie, herself a fellow maker and baker. Rather, Baker with a capital B. She went to culinary school. She once made a blown sugar sculpture of a rabbit. I have not done those things. Thankfully, our baking consisted less of Hallie telling me how important it was to level out my flour before pouring and more of us doing extremely ungainly modern dances to current pop hits while brandishing microplane zesters.

I got this recipe from Pastry Affair, and the super impatient six year old in me was really pleased to see that the shortbread didn't need to be chilled before being rolled and cut. I could have done with an even bigger hit of lavender, so if you lean in that direction as well I would recommend using a whole teaspoon rather than the half she indicates. We also topped the cookies with some of Hallie's lavender sugar, because when it comes down to a choice between lavender sugar and no lavender sugar...well, I think you know what to do.

Lemon-Lavender Tea Cookies (Adapted from Pastry Affair)

1 stick butter, room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Zest of 2 lemons, divided
1 teaspoon lavender buds, ground or chopped finely
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Lavender sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, zest of 1 lemon, lavender, vanilla, and salt. Mix in the flour until the dough comes together. The dough should be soft and ever so slightly crumbly. 

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining lemon zest and granulated sugar with your fingers. Set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out shortbread until 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle on the lemon scented sugar and lightly press it into the shortbread with the rolling pin. If you would like, sprinkle the lavender sugar over the dough at this time as well. Cut out shapes and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Anyway, I really really recommend that you give these babies a try--even if you don't have any lavender hanging around the house. The lemon, I imagine, would be lovely enough on its own. They're simple, quick, have relatively few ingredients and pay big dividends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cup of tea to make.