if you ask me to pick a dessert, i will almost always go with the chocolate one. or deep, bitter flavors like espresso, bourbon, and smoke. or salted caramel or brown sugar. i like fruit desserts, a lot (my favorite pies are key lime and cherry) but most of the time, i go for chocolate — except chocolate cake. i’m not a chocolate cake fan.
but there are some flavors i gravitate to that aren’t those wintery flavors that you can’t eat too much of because they are just too rich. although i have tested that theory and it’s iffy in my house.
lavender is one of my go tos. i love lavender even though it’s finicky. i also love lemon and citrus in general. i’ve saved this new york times recipe for chewy lemon cookies and just had to make them. so here they are, but modified a bit.
i followed the recipe, replacing the rosemary with lavender, but started with way less. once added to the dough, i tasted until i had that faint aroma and taste of the tiny purple flower. i also divide the cookies by 12, but the first batch spread so i divided the remaining in half and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes, which i recommend. they are delicious either way.
chewy lemon lavender cookies
Ingredients
- 2-3 teaspoons culinary lavender flowers
- juice of ½ lemon about 1½ tablespoons, plus zest of 4 lemons
- 1½ cups/180 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ cup/90 grams cornmeal preferably medium-grind for polenta
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt such as diamond crystal or ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup/227 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1½ cups/300 grams granulated sugar plus ¼ cup/50 grams for coating
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- place two teaspoons lavender in your smallest bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice to prevent from browning.
- in a small bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar.
- in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy, about 1 minute. (you can also do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) add 1½ cups/300 grams sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- add the egg, lemon zest and lavender mixture and combine on low speed. add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. if the dough is very soft, refrigerate it for 15 minutes to firm up.
- divide the dough into 12 even pieces, form into balls, then roll each one in the remaining ¼ cup/50 grams sugar. for smaller cookies, divide these in half. space 3 or 4 cookies an equal distance apart on each sheet pan. for cookies that spread less, place in freezer for 30 minutes.