Week 3 - Lavender Shortbread

This week I have to thank Vicki for her suggestion of what to do with the lavender sugar, make shortbread! It was a bit of an experiment, I really wasn't sure how much to use or how pungent it would be once cooked. When I first put them in the oven & the dough warmed up a bit, the lavender smelt so strong I thought they might end up tasting like a bar of soap! I must admit I was pleasantly surprised, the taste is quite subtle, almost like rosemary? I substituted the quantity of normal sugar for lavender sugar, but then paniced it would be too much & added some extra plain sugar! I don't think it needed it & it probably made my biscuits a bit too crunchy.

175g plain flour
50g lavender sugar
100g butter cut into rough chunks
Dash of milk
Caster sugar to sprinkle

1. Sift the flour & stir in the sugar. Work in the butter using your fingertips until it starts to bind together to a dough. I'd normally just blitz it in my food processor, but it would destroy all the lavender flowers. If it's difficult to get it to bind, add a little dash of milk to help it along.

2. Once it's all combined, knead it until you have a smooth dough. Roll it into a sauage shape, wrap it in foil or cling film & put it in the fridge for 30minutes to chill.

3. It's up to you if you want to roll it out & use a cookie cutter. I'm a bit lazy & just slice the sausage shaped dough into 5mm thick discs.

4. Place the biccies on a greased baking tray & sprinkle a little caster sugar over the top. Bake in the oven at 170c/GM3 for around 10 minutes until the edges are just golden.

So...it was an interesting variation, but honestly I think I'll stick to plain shortbread...what to do with the rest of the lavender sugar though!?

3 down, 49 to go! See you next week, Rebecca