Lavender is a polarizing flavour. I find people either hate it or love it. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of lavender flavours or scents because I find those products to be very strong and soapy smelling. However, the lavender earl grey sugar cookies by Amy Ho (Constellation Inspiration) uses the perfect amount of lavender. The resulting cookies do not taste like soap! If you’ve been wanting to experiment with lavender, I recommend giving these cookies a go as a starting point.
Interestingly, I found that these cookies had a strong lemon scent and flavour, even though there isn’t any lemon in it. I’m not sure where that’s from – maybe my nose and taste buds think the combination of lavender and earl grey is like lemon. If you make these, let me know if you think it smells and tastes like lemon or not!
While I’m not a fan of lavender, I love earl grey! It’s one of my favourite tea flavours. So strong and tasty! London Fogs and earl grey macarons are my jam. For these cookies, I found the earl grey flavour to be subtle. I would bump up the amount of tea next time to try to get a stronger flavour infused into the cookie. Or maybe I’ll use the loose leaf tea I purchased from Silk Road in Kitsilano instead of the Twinning earl grey tea bags.
Sugar cookies are aptly named because the primary ingredients are sugar, flour, butter, eggs, and vanilla. The cookies are quite sweet, very soft in texture and a little bit crumbly. Be careful not to make them too large, otherwise they will fall apart when you are holding and eating them! I found that was happening with my batch. Also, don’t stack these cookies on top of one another, because they stick together.
Lavender earl grey sugar cookies sound posh and would fit perfectly with a cup of black tea or coffee. To recreate these cookies, you can follow the recipe below. Tag me @takeontreats and #takeontreats if you recreate these cookies!
Lavender Earl Grey Sugar Cookies
Yield: 15-20 cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups (270 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 earl grey tea bags
- 1/2 teaspoon culinary-grade lavender, finely ground
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, tea (emptied out from tea bags), lavender, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2 to 3 minutes). Add egg and vanilla and beat on low until just combined.
- Gradually beat in dry ingredients on low until just combined.
- Drop 3 tablespoon portions of dough 3 inches apart on sheet pans. Sprinkle tops of dough balls with sugar, if desired.
- Bake 1 pan at a time for 12 minutes, or until edges have set but centres are gooey. Cool cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch. Repeat with remaining dough. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
Recipe is from Hummingbird High, but original recipe is from Amy Ho’s cookbook, Blooms and Baking.
