When I am King dilly dilly, you shall be Queen...

Well, after leaving my lavender sugar to infuse I finally got around to making some lavender shortbread and was pleasantly surprised with the results! Shortbread is easy to make, but don't be tempted to rush the chilling stages as they help it firm up. However, don't leave it in the fridge over night as I did when I got distracted. I had to leave it all day to return to not far off room temperature! So, if you fancy having a go at making some, here's the recipe I used, although you could use any shortbread recipe, just replacing the castor sugar with lavender sugar instead.

Lavender Shortbread

125g/ 5oz lavender sugar, plus extra for sprinkling,
225g/ 8oz unsalted butter, softened,
300g/ 12oz plain flour (I used wholemeal plain flour as that is what I had in the cupboard, but either white or wholemeal is fine, the wholemeal just gives it a more rustic taste),
50g/ 2oz of ground rice.

1. Sieve the sugar into a bowl and reserve the lavender flowers to stir in later so they don't get broken.
2. Add the butter, and cream the butter and sugar together.
3. Sift the flour and ground rice into the mixture and add the reserved lavender flowers.
4. Mix with a wooden spoon until it resembles breadcrumbs.
5. Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and forms a ball. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
6. Roll the dough out to about 5mm thickness (I always end up thicker though!) and cut out shapes using a metal cutter.. Place onto a baking tray (you don't need to grease it, believe me there is enough butter in these that they won't stick!) and return to the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.
8. After half an hour, sprinkle with some extra lavender sugar and then bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on how thick they are, until golden brown. Cool on a wire cooling rack and sprinkle with some more lavender sugar before eating.

If you think the idea of eating lavender doesn't appeal to you then I really do implore you to try these, you might be pleasantly surprised! If anyone local to me wants some lavender sugar to try and make some let me know as I have some sitting in my baking cupboard!

Happy baking...

xxx