#lavender biscuits

[askwhatsforlunch]

Lavender and Vanilla Biscuits

When you read this, Ava will be here!! And I shall have welcomed my girl into my home with these Lavender and Vanilla Biscuits. These delicious bikkies have the fragrance and flavour of the first embrace after a long time, when the combination of the vanilla notes in Ava’s perfume and the lavender scent of her shampoo hit my nostrils, and fill me with joy. And naturally, they pair beautifully with Avas!

Ingredients (makes a dozen):

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon Dried Lavender

1/2 plump vanilla bean

¼ cup Lavender Sugar

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 ¼ cup plain flour

In a medium bowl, beat butter and Dried Lavender energetically with a wooden spoon. 

Scrape seeds off the vanilla bean, and add to the butter mixture. stir in Lavender Sugar and cream, gradually adding Vanilla Extract, until pale and fluffy. 

Add the flour, all in one go, and work it into the Lavender and vanilla mixture, with a wooden spoon at first, and your hands then. Bring the mixture together into a ball. The dough will be short, but you still can shape it into a sort of sausage shape. Roll tightly in parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or until firm.

Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Once it has hardened, remove dough sausage from the refrigerator. Unwrap, and cut into thick discs. 

Place the biscuits, spaced evenly, onto prepared baking tray and bake at 165°C/325°F, for about 15 minutes, or until the edges just start getting golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serve Lavender and Vanilla Biscuits with piping hot tea or a couple of Avas.

[cookingmywaythroughcarryon]

Lavender Shortbread

Mentioned in Chapter 56 today’s recipe is for Fiona Pitch’s lavender shortbread. It seems Baz isn’t the only Pitch family member who has a thing for lavender. 

“He sits at my grotty little table and starts drinking my tea, dunking the last of my lavender shortbread in it.” Fiona Pitch, Chapter 56, Carry On. 

Lavender Shortbread:

Ingredients: 

3/4 pound salted butter (three sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. lavender extract (I prefer this to dried lavender--I have no patience for grinding lavender with a mortar and pestle and then having bits of it in my biscuits. It’s a personal thing. If you prefer dried lavender go right ahead--you may need more like 1 1/2 to 2 tsp of it.) 

Method:

I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You can use a hand mixer.

I mixed the butter with the sugar until it was well combined. 

Then I added the vanilla and the lavender extract. I used 1/4 tsp of the extract and it had a faint lavender flavour. If you want a stronger flavour use the 1/2 tsp. 

Add the flour to the bowl and mix together until the dough starts to form a ball

place the dough ball on a nonstick baking mat

Roll out the dough on a baking mat until approximately 1/2 inch thick, then cut desired shapes. I have a square cutter so that’s what I used.

Cut the dough into shapes

I then cut these shapes in half because they seemed too large and my kids like the Walkers rectangular shortbread so I decided to try to match them. 

Refrigerate the cut dough for one hour, until cold and firm to touch. (I often forget this step, fyi). It’s good to think about preheating the oven while the dough is chilling. 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bake the shortbread for 20-25 minutes, until they are lightly golden brown at the edges.

let them cool to room temperature before serving.

Baked biscuits:

Plated biscuits: 

Store in an airtight container. 

I served these at my book club and they were a hit. (We ate them as we raged about the lessons of feminism and the myth of having it all and how it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.) 

[xkruczus]

[askwhatsforlunch]

Lavender Biscuits

We used to have lavender growing in our front yard. But the thing about lavender is that it does grow. Out of control if you let it. So, my Mum took it out and we made dried lavender bouquets and potpourri. We also kept some for culinary use and, every now and then I’m using it (it keeps fantastically well). I once made lavender ice cream that is gorgeous with sautéed apricots. Today, I made Lavender Biscuits, mainly because I thought they’d pair wonderfully with a Bellini. And they do!

Ingredients (makes a dozen):

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons dried lavender

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 1/4 cup plain flour

In a medium bowl, whisk butter and lavender energetically. This will help release the oils and essence from the flower buds. Whisk in sugar and cream, until pale and fluffy. Add the flour, all in one go, and work it into the lavender mixture, with a wooden spoon at first, and your hands then. Bring the mixture together into a ball. The dough will be short, but you still can shape it into a sort of sausage shape. Roll tightly in parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or until firm.

Once it’s hard, remove dough cylinder from the fridge. Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the cylinder and cut into tick discs. Place the bisuits, spaced evenly, on lined baking sheet and bake at 165°C/325°F, for about 15 minutes, or until the edges just start getting golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Now, you can have those delicate and delicious Lavender Biscuits with a cuppa tea or a Bellini. Your call! Keep in an airtight box for up to 2 weeks.