Grandma’s Lavender Cookies
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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.
They 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.
Pin this Lavender Cookies recipe for later!
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 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˚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. 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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31 Comments on “Grandma’s Lavender Cookies”
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 🙂
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?
Generally I just put them as scoops on the cookie sheet and they flatten out as they cook!
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!
Thank you so much 🙂 That means a lot that you enjoyed the story and the recipe!
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
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!
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!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! Definitely a favorite of mine 🙂
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?
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!
Hi, can I use lavender extract instead of lavender flowers in the cookie batter? If so, how much should I add?
You can definitely use lavender extract! Just use 1/4 tsp 🙂
Hi! Lovely memories! I use the dried flowers for my cookies. Haven’t tried the leaves yet. I will try them this time!
Hi!! Can I use lavender oil instead of lavender extract? Love your blog ?
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!
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!
Is there a place to order lavender leaves? I am seeing only flowers sold online? Or is it ok to substitute leaves with flowers?
There is! I like to order mine from Savory Spice Shop.
Such great cookies! Mine also popped up once baked. Was that maybe too much time in the blender?
It was likely a little too much time in the mixer!
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.