Grandma’s Lavender Cookies
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. They were the most beautiful things I’ve ever made (I am sure my grandma sneaked in her magical fixes, I was always a mess in the kitchen), even to this day.
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. I remember beaming with pride and how my grandma smelled of cookie dough and lavender.
I miss my grandma terribly every year when spring turns into summer and the roses in my front yard begin to come to life again. 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!
Grandma's Lavender Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lavender leaves
- 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 tsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 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 flowers have 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. Once the cookies are cool, spread them with a thin layer of icing and garnish with a few dried lavender flowers.
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 🙂
Beautiful cookies and wonderful memories. Grandmas are the best 🙂
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?
Thank you Ali! I used the dried flowers that you see in the pictures.
What elegant little cookies! I can see why these are a classic 🙂
Thank you June!
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.
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!
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.
Thank you so much for letting me know!! I love that you added blueberries! Sounds divine 🙂