Chocolate
Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Hello Readers! While my blogging absence has been partly due to mindful summery activities/work/projects/laziness, it is mostly a result of managing a string of migraine storms over the course of the past 8 weeks – and counting. I’m in an in-between migraine wave space and really wanted to get a post out that’s been simmering over the duration.
Earlier this month, I spontaneously took out my phone and recorded a mini-video of the sunlight illuminating aromatic steam arising from my morning cuppa. I liked it so much I decided to do something Canva-esque with it at a later date.
As I’m partial to the quiet of the moments captured, here it is ‘as is’ for inclusion in this long overdue post!
While this is not that Canva-esque moment, “Aromatic Steam Arising” (cool name, eh?) has joined my small file of phone vids I want to edit and use in future projects. Thus, scratching the itch to explore DIY vid/music creations via the myriad of free tech tools available to the general population – especially to those of us non-techies who just want to try doing this.
I mean, I have the vid, I have photos, I have plenty of my own music to use, some Canva skills, a plethora of ideas…just not the time or patience to embark on this new spark of a project right now.
That said, I’m always up for squeezing in time to bake and cook! HA!
Many of you know of my deep appreciation for lavender in the realm of edibles. During our Mother/Daughter trip in late June, middle daughter and I came across an ice cream shop, OWOWCOW, nestled within the old Silk Factory building complex near Easton, PA. Its siren call beckoned us to enter and indulge!
The heat wave in that part of the country was on the verge of bursting forth, but bearable. So, we gladly & without guilt lost ourselves to the delights of ice creamy refreshment after our walk along the Karl Stirner Arts Trail.
@ the Silk Factory 
Michelle on the Art Trail 
Art Rocks on Ledge
What flavors were offered? A world of possibilities. I chose two scoops of a luscious looking chocolate and one scoop of an interesting Honey Lavender as an experiment to share with Michelle. In my eagerness to satisfy my own cravings, I neglected to take notice of what she ordered. But I do know we both ordered scoops without cones – less calories, ya know? 🙂
Would you believe me if I told you the Honey Lavender was to die for? Yep, believe me. It easily surpassed the chocolate – which was one of the best I’d ever had aside from the expensive, teeny scoop consumed during a trip to Paris years ago.
This re-encounter with Honey Lavender inspired me to re-dig into related recipes. I found a simple Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookie recipe on-line and baked up a batch.
Its simplicity allows for the tastes of buttery lavender and subtly sweet honey to shine forth – leaving a clean and refreshing taste upon one’s palette.
Excellent with a morning cuppa!
Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookies
on-line recipe refined & adapted by Laura Bruno Lilly
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 cups flour
- pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons dried lavender
In a large bowl of the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy. Add the flour, salt, and lavender (gently crushed). Mix until combined. Place two sheets of waxed paper, parchment or plastic wrap on the counter. Divide dough in half and place one on each sheet. Using the wrap, roll & shape the dough into 2 logs that are approximately 1 ¼ inches in diameter. Shape the logs into squares if desired by pressing gently on the top with a cookie sheet to flatten the log slightly, then turning the log on its side and pressing again. Freeze thirty minutes or refrigerate 2+ hours, or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 325. Remove the dough from the fridge or freezer. Slice into ¼ inch slices. Place 1-2 inches apart on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let cool completely before serving.
Note: Baked cookies freeze well. Also, can freeze dough and bake at later date – freeze in 5-inch long logs. Defrost, keeping firm, between 5-10 min before slicing into cookies. Bake as usual.
The cookies look delicious! So sorry to hear about your history of migraine headaches. My family and I have suffered with them since childhood and I know how debilitating they can be.
Thankfully the Summer Storm of Migraines has passed. I wish for you plenty of migraine-free days in which to revel in your beloved Portugal!
The cookies read deliciously as well as their visual appeal! I am trying to wish them right now onto a saucer along side my tea I am drinking this morning. Sorry about your bout with migraines. I enjoyed seeing the steam rise and made me thinking of cooler weather and hot drinks all steamy! Can’t wait!
I’m all for cooler weather, that’s for sure!
Hey Laura, so sorry to hear you’ve been battling migraine storms. I hope this in-between wave space continues and brings you back to good health.
Your Mother/Daughter trip sounds super special and those treats you indulged in, yummy. But what of those Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookies!!! So enticing; got give your recipe a try. 🙂 Thank you so much for this delightful post!
And oh, super cool is the Aromatic Steam Arising. Looking forward to your future DIY vid/music creations. <3
Thank-you for your good wishes, Khaya. I am doing better!
I hope you are able to squeeze in some summer fun now that you’re on the mend!
So good to hear you are doing better, Laura. And me too, I am squeezing some fun at last. Thank you, and be well! <3
Looks like a really fun trip. I’m passing the cookie recipe on to my better half, thanks!
Actually, the primary thrust of the trip was a field trip (as in field recording) to The Ringing Rocks State Park…these were just a few of the side/daily activities. I may or may not post about our hammering adventures but I’ve a file of bits to use in future experimental compositions!
BTW: I’m sure if Gorgeous tackles this recipe, it’ll turn out marvelous & delicious!
😎
Laura, it’s just eleven in the morning here and I am about to make a cuppa for myself (hot water and honey for now) and these cookies would be sublime mid-morning snack! The mixture of honey & lavender sounds heavenly and so tantilising! I’ve never come across them in England so will have to ‘translate’ the recipe and look forward to trying to bake them myself.
I’m sorry about the migraine storms and feel for you. My friend suffers terribly with them and a few years ago the neurologist put her on beta blockers – rather extreme I thought. The side-effects are very bad, barely any sleep and hallucinations but no migraines so she’s stayed on them. Hope you have a calmer pain-free time ahead, my friend. xx❤️
I would have thought the Brits were more accustomed to Lavender Baked Goods than us in the USA. Hmmm, wonder if ‘The Great British Baking Show’ would be impressed by my ingenuity!
Beta Blockers?! Wow. I’m familiar with their hideous side affects from a few colleagues who tried them out for performance anxiety during my music school days. Not the best solution…
All the best to you and your friend, Annika.
(visualize heart emoji here)
Yum! And I hope you find a way to break the migraine cycle.
Thanks, Zip. I think it’s on its way out!
🙂
Honey Lavender does sound to die for, and I can almost smell that wafting coffee! I hope your migraines as fading, they are no fun at all!
Oh yeah!
Yes, the migraines are fading, but still on the fringe…so I’m alert & careful as I approach more post migraine type days.
These cookies look delicious. I am tempted to run out and make some right away, but have no lavender in the pantry. Thanks for sharing the recipe here. Also great to see you back here in blogland.
Thanks, Ms Bean for the visit. Great to see you in my comments!
Lavender….?
Ah yes, my NYC lavender buddy! I hope you take a crack at baking up a batch of these. They are just the right amount of lavender to **not** taste ‘medicine-y’ or ‘perfume-y’. A major problem in using lavender for culinary purposes IMHO.
Yeah…my stuff tastes soapy
Yep. It’s hard to find that balance in culinary uses of lavender. Less is more at first try, plus the quality of culinary lavender matters. I do hope you’ll try this as the days get cooler, LA. I’d be interested to hear your evaluation of taste perceptions.
I bought lavender sugar which I haven’t used yet…
I remember that…perhaps try it in your tea (I think you’re more a tea person, than coffee?)
You know….that’s a great idea with herbal tea. Trying that today!!
Omg tried it in tea!! Delicious!! Thanks for that idea!!
Happy to oblige! Welcome, new lavender convert!
🙂
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love your honey lavendar journey – – do not love the migraine wave — all care Laura
We take the ‘good with the bad’, eh Catherine?
You take care and get your hair into that buzz cut!
😉
Hope the migraines are going now.
Thank you Mick, for those sentiments. They are abating, slowly but surely…
The cookies look very good atop the artful table mat. I was getting entranced by the curling steam touched by the sun’s rays. So pretty! Sorry to hear about your migraines, hope they pass with the weather changes.
Thanks for your photographer’s take on my post, Jane. I’m thrilled about your response to my ‘Aromatic Steam Arising’ vid!
Great to hear from you, Laura, but not so great to hear about the migraines! I hope that by the time you read this, you have your creative and wonderful energy back full force and then some. It sounds like you are on your way with that lovely cup of steam! I look forward to seeing where that takes you! I also like lavender butter cookies…yum!
I am in a hotel in Gettysburg, Penn., as I write this. The Hubster and I spent all day touring the overwhelming battlefields. I am very tired! Ice cream sounds like a great idea…so not used the east coast humidity! 🙂
At this time of reading your comment, I’m gaining that creative energy – not full force yet, but enough to be enticingly hopeful that the storm has passed!
Yes, us Laura’s are of the same mind: you from the NW and myself from CO/NM: the humidity is a major lifestyle factor that can play heavily into one’s physical and mental outlook/abilities! Even though partially acclimated, I’m still a lizard out of the desert high country here in the SC swamplands!
Enjoy your PA adventure! I was very taken with all it had to offer us (Mother/Daughter trip) in the SE section of the state (Upper Black Eddy, Easton, across the river to NJ, Bucks county and even a teeny bit of Philly!)
Who knew Honey Lavender ice cream was a ‘thing’ and delicious to boot? What a chance, and meant to be. Hey, it inspired you to make honey lavender shortbread cookies. I call that win-win.
Bullseye for sure!
😉
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Laura, the cookies look yummy! Glad you are feeling better!
Robert had terrible 5-day migraines for years. He cured them about 8 years ago by taking 200 mg of B2 twice a day! He is migraine -free, thank goodness! If you haven’t tried this, it might be worth a try! <3
Thanks for the tip…I haven’t tried B2, especially as a possible daily regimen, but I do keep up with my magnesium and amp it up at times like these. Along with the – yep, you guessed it – lavender! (and other natural helps)
As you know, ‘managing migraines’ involves a whole tool kit of methods, where meds play only a fraction of the prescription (as in, used sparingly!)
I’m very happy to hear your hubby has found a sustainable solution to his migraines – a huge relief in living everyday life!
Lovely to hear your voice again, Laura. I am sorry it has been stopped by the migraine (my Dad used to get them, so I have a small understanding of how debilitating they are), and I hope that you are out the other side of this migraine tsunami. I love the idea of your Canva-esque project. You are the creative to pull it off. As for the biscuits…..yum! I do love a biscuit.
I’m honored you took time to stop by, Anne. You certainly do have a basic understanding of migraines since you opted to use the word ‘tsunami’ in conjunction with how they play out!
Take care, dear woman.
While the cookies look delicious, I would be that friend who would opt for the chocolate, all the while enjoying seeing you enjoying the honey lavender! Haha! Yes – do something with that video and your great music!
I get it, Wendy! Plus, with me enjoying the honey lavender, there’s more chocolate for you to enjoy! HA! Would that we could share fika together…
😎
Your shortbread cookies look so yum! So sorry you’ve been experiencing migraine waves. I can’t even imagine. I hope you’re “in-between” time lasts a long time ?❤️
Thank you, Marie. I think I’m finally on the other side of this wave – so maybe my in-between will settle in for the long term!
Take care.
Lovely to hear your voice. Am distressed to read about the migraines…
Too many ideas can make one feel breathless, but I guess it’s better than having no ideas at all. Am intrigued by your steam rising canva-esque project.
Thanks for the mouth watering descriptions. Here’s to that next cup of coffee.
Thank you for your concern, Mariss. Migraines have woven in & out of my life for decades. Thankfully, it’s been several years since I’ve experienced this type of intensity & length. As for that next cup of coffee? I’ve been coffee celibate for almost two weeks – tomorrow is my coming out cuppa!
🙂
Enjoy every mouthful. Hope this set of migraines is coming to an end
So far, so good! 🙂
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Laura, how cool that you went from the creativity of recording steam to the creativity of the honey lavender cookies. How cool that you were game to try the honey lavender ice cream first! ??? Those cookies look delicious!
L.Marie: I like how you noticed my segue from steam to cookies! HA! You are so observant – part of what makes you such a great author.