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My Grandma’s Lavender Cookies are sweet, floral and fragrant – a recipe that is very near and dear to my heart. They are absolutely simple to make and have a lovely glaze on top. Perfect for spring or summer, I love to garnish them with a sprinkle of lavender buds! Makes 2 dozen.
Lavender cookies are the first things I remember baking with my grandma Alice. I am sure there was probably a lot of recipes I made with her before, but this is a recipe I remember most.
I am pretty sure it started with me wanting to decorate cookies with flowers and my grandma ever-so kindly (she was the kindest woman in the world) giving into my demands.
The recipe was so simple and I helped with every step along the way. The best part was when the cookies cooled and we were ready to ice them. My grandma had me pick flowers from her garden and we laid the petals on top of each cookie, gently topping them with a thin icing.
The lavender cookies were the most beautiful things I’ve ever made, even to this day.
I am sure my grandma sneaked in her magical fixes, I was always a mess in the kitchen.
Any time I have a meltdown in the kitchen, whether a recipe isn’t working for me or I just burned dinner, I think back to those cookies with my grandma.
I remember my mom walking in and her jaw dropping to the floor. It was the best feeling ever and I was beaming with pride. My grandma smelled of cookie dough and lavender.
Basically it was one of those iconic experiences that I fondly remember whenever I’m asked about how I got into cooking and baking.
I miss my grandma terribly every year when spring turns into summer.
The roses in my front yard begin to come to life and I think of her epic rose garden.
This year especially for some reason and making these cookies in my kitchen on a sunny day, I felt like she was there with me, whispering to me to lick the spoon and not let any dough go to waste.
So today I am sharing a piece of my heart and my family with yours. Here’s to cookies, grandmas, and summer!
This Recipe’s Must-Haves
I love my half sheet baking pan and silicone mats for baking these cookies. They are two of my most used items in my kitchen.
You will also need a stand mixer or hand mixer and bowl to make the dough for the recipe.
To make the frosting, you will need one of your mixing bowls and a whisk.
These cookies are the perfect addition to any springtime or summer party. I love making them the day of because they are so delightful, it’s hard to stop yourself from gobbling them up! Of course, if you have restraint, you can certainly make them the day before! Just store them in an airtight container after you’ve frosted them and let the frosting set.
Grandma's Lavender Cookies
Just like grandma used to make, these cookies are sweet, floral and fragrant.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp dried lavender buds (also labeled leaves or flowers depending on where you shop!)
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Lavender Icing
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tsp lavender extract
- 2-3 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Grease 2 lined baking sheets or line with silpats.
- In a blender, combine eggs, butter, sugar and lavender leaves. Blend on low until well combined and the lavender has broken up into small pieces.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir together until combined. Drop dough onto the greased baking sheets, 1 Tbsp at a time.
- Bake cookies for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely on wire racks.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, lavender extract and water, stirring until it forms a smooth frosting. If the frosting is too thick, you can add more water (1 tsp at a time) until it’s the desired consistency. Once the cookies are cool, spread them with a thin layer of icing and garnish with a few dried lavender flowers.
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Jill says
What a nice memory of your grandma! I love how soft that icing looks. My future MIL grows lavender, and even mailed us dried bouquets so now I always associate the smell with her instead of just soap 🙂
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Beautiful cookies and wonderful memories. Grandmas are the best 🙂
Ali says
These sound lovely! I am always looking for ways to cook with lavender. Is it the needley leaves that you use or the flowers that I see here in the pictures?
Meghan B. says
Thank you Ali! I used the dried flowers that you see in the pictures.
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
What elegant little cookies! I can see why these are a classic 🙂
Meghan B. says
Thank you June!
Faith says
Hi! These look SO yummy and beautiful. I had a question though: What is lavender extract? When I look it up, the recipes to make it call for vodka :O
I have a pregnant friend who loves lavender cookies, so I wanted to make her some for her birthday — but that is why I ask about the alcohol. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this and the sweet story about your grandmother.
Meghan Y. says
Thank you so much for your kind words! These are one of my FAVORITE cookies and I love that you want to make them for a friend! You can actually buy lavender extract at most spice shops or online (https://amzn.to/2q6KF48 – aff. link). Extracts, including vanilla, are actually made with alcohol, but in such a small dose as found in food it isn’t harmful for pregnant women. You can do more research on this of course, but from everything I’ve read extracts are a-ok in amounts like the one for this recipe!
Stine Camilla says
I googeled lavender cookies, and found your wonderful story and recipe.
I have tried to make them twice, and the first ones turned out nice and crispy. 🙂 I thought they were sweet enough without the icing, and I did not have lavender extract. They were lovely like that too. 🙂
This time, I added a good handful of (wild) blueberries, and held back a bit on the sugar. I wanted them to look more like they tasted, if you can understand what I mean. 🙂
They became more fluffy and with a softer core. I like this version too. Just a tip, if you don’t mind. 🙂
Kind regards fron Norway.
Meghan Y. says
Thank you so much for letting me know!! I love that you added blueberries! Sounds divine 🙂
Simona says
Hii, I love the taste of them but mine poped up instead of being flat :/ when I was placing them on the tray I pressed them down with my fingers – should I just let them scooped in a ball instead?
Meghan Y. says
Generally I just put them as scoops on the cookie sheet and they flatten out as they cook!
toni says
I love your sweet story to go with this sweet recipe…I made the mistake of adding too much lavender so I made a lemon icing instead to tone it down a bit. Simple but lovely little recipe to make in the springtime…or wintertime…any time is a good time for cookies and good memories!
Meghan Y. says
Thank you so much 🙂 That means a lot that you enjoyed the story and the recipe!
Jacinta says
Hi there, can’t wait to try your recipe, just a quick question, can I use fresh lavender instead of dried?
Thanks so much
Jacinta
Meghan Y. says
Hi there! You can definitely use fresh lavender instead of dried. I would suggest using 1 1/2 tsp fresh lavender leaves instead of 1 tsp!
Sophia says
I made these for a birthday party and everyone loved them! They are SO delicious!! Also the story with your grandma is so sweet. Thanks for sharing!
Meghan Y. says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! Definitely a favorite of mine 🙂
Amy says
These look awesome!! For the cookies, you mention flowers in the blender – but the ingredients only mention leaves. What part of the plant goes into the cookie?
Meghan Y. says
Thank you! Yes, the lavender leaves are what go into the blender. There is no other part of the lavender plant that is used. Thanks!
J says
Hi, can I use lavender extract instead of lavender flowers in the cookie batter? If so, how much should I add?
Meghan Y. says
You can definitely use lavender extract! Just use 1/4 tsp 🙂
Arlene says
Hi! Lovely memories! I use the dried flowers for my cookies. Haven’t tried the leaves yet. I will try them this time!
Amy says
Hi!! Can I use lavender oil instead of lavender extract? Love your blog ?
Meghan Y. says
You sure can! I haven’t tried it myself but I know that the oil is stronger than the extract. Therefore I would use 1/4 to 1/3 tsp of lavender oil!
Andi says
These came out great! I used 1.5t of fresh lavender flowers for the cookies and 3T of lavender water (made from boiling lavender flowers in water) for the icing. Yum!
Olia says
Is there a place to order lavender leaves? I am seeing only flowers sold online? Or is it ok to substitute leaves with flowers?
Meghan Y. says
There is! I like to order mine from Savory Spice Shop.
Stacy says
Such great cookies! Mine also popped up once baked. Was that maybe too much time in the blender?
Meghan Y. says
It was likely a little too much time in the mixer!
Matthew Horrocks says
These are so delicious!! I didn’t have lavender extract for the glaze so I swapped for lemon juice and it worked beautifully. Thanks for the recipe.
wendy says
My batter is not the usual stiff cookie batter…is this correct? No one mentioned this in the notes and I am worried that blender was on too long.
Meghan Y. says
It shouldn’t be runny – you should be able to easily drop balls of dough on a baking sheet. I’m not sure how loose your batter is, but if it’s too runny then it was probably blended too long!
Debbie says
Did you use a blender or a hand/stand mixer? Thanks!
Meghan Y. says
So sorry, I use a blender to break up the lavender!
E says
I followed all the directions to a T, but used an air fryer instead of oven as to not use all that gas for just 10 minutes of baking. My cookies came out like biscuits, all I was missing was the gravy :/ I lowered the temp to 300* and cooked for a shorter amount of time and still had biscuit cookies. Any idea what went wrong? Would love to make the real deal!
Meghan Y. says
Hi there! Do you mean icing when you say gravy? The icing has to be made separately from the cookies! Refer the the final step in the instructions for directions on making the icing. Then you can add the icing on top of the finished cookies. I’m excited to hear that they worked out for you in the air fryer!
Emilia Rosa says
I never heard of using the leaves of the lavender for cooking. Are you sure you meant “leaves” instead of the little “pods”?
Meghan Y. says
That’s just how they are labeled from the store I purchase them from! They are also known as the flowers or just dried lavender.
Lyssa Rucker says
These is now my favorite cookies! My family, friends and co-workers also adore them! Thank you for sharing!!
Meghan Y. says
Fantastic! I am absolutely thrilled to hear that!
Lance says
The water quantity for the frosting should be 2/3 of a cup, not a couple of teaspoons. Other than that, these are awesome. Even my picky not liking sweet wife likes than.