Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Lavender Shortbread - Gluten Free!

There are a couple of lavender workshops coming up tomorrow and the next day for The Essential Herbal, and for the one on Thursday, I really wanted to make some lavender shortbread cookies to munch on while we make some lavender wands.
Who knows? Tomorrow maybe lavender lemonade! Ahem... but I'm getting ahead of myself. My friend Sarah is gluten intolerant, so I set about finding a recipe that would work for everyone.
It didn't take long, either. A few minutes on the internet brought a simple recipe. Today Molly and I went out for the ingredients - rice flour, cornstarch, 10X sugar and butter.
I was excited! Out to the lavender patch to do battle with those bumbly bees. They are having quite a time! I keep hoping that they will flavor some local honey with a touch of lavender. Carefully I trimmed just the purple-est bits of lavender for the most exotic appearance.
I followed the recipe to the t, except I will admit to putting the cookies too close together.
Even so, they had a sandy, ethereal texture. Melt in your mouth and crumble in your fingers. Very unstable, and I really didn't feel they were shortbread-like. Just because you can't eat gluten doesn't mean you should have to pretend that something is like a thing that it is not.
So I thought about it for a while, and realized it needed something to hold it together....egg. I added an egg, and cut down on the butter while adding a wee splash of vanilla. The dry ingredients needed to be bumped up just a smidge to make up for the liquid of the egg. Maybe a medium sized egg wouldn't need that, but I used extra large.



That was what they needed! NOW they are shortbread cookies.
Here's the recipe:
1 C plus 2 heaping T Rice Flour
1/2 C plus 1 heaping T 10X sugar
1/2 C plus 1 heaping T cornstarch
1 extra large egg
1 stick butter (1/2 C)
1 good t chopped lavender flowers
1/2 t vanilla
Blend together the dry ingredients well. Soften the butter, and mix it with the egg and vanilla. Mix everything together and add the flowers. If it is too wet, add rice flour by teaspoons.
Refrigerate for one hour.
Make teaspoon sized balls and place on cookie sheet 1 1/2 inches apart.
Put into a 300 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
mmmmm.....

5 comments:

Carapace said...

Wow, thank you for the recipe and review! I can't have lavender, but that's a heck of a lot easier to cut out than GLUTEN, which I also can't have! I'll be sure to try these..mmm, maybe with cardamom! Thanks again!

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Well, this is new to me, as I have never cooked with Lavender but it sounds simply delicious....
What a wonderful blog you have, I hope to return often.
Thanks for sharing all of your recipes and delights.
By the way, came this way from Carol, at The Writers Porch...she's special !

Anonymous said...

thanks for the recipe - i think i am going to try this with almond flour .. do you use fresh lavender - or do you dry it first?? i just harvested some to make cookies . glad i found your recipe!!

Unknown said...

I just made these with honey instead of sugar. I'm in love. Thanks!

Unknown said...

I just made these with honey instead of sugar. They turned out great! Thanks!