Time for some purple praise
A Pinch of Salt
By Donna-Marie Riani
Lavender. To look at a field of it is a stunning sight. To smell it is to feel calm and peaceful. To cook or bake with it adds a beautiful floral quality to your food. This herb can be found in lotions and balms. It is also used in aromatherapy to promote relaxation. It can be used to heal burns and cuts. It also makes a lovely all-natural perfume. It is truly an all-purpose wonder.
Lavender can be found growing in Europe, Asia, Africa and India, just to name a few places. It also grows right here in beautiful Oregon. Because it needs full sun to grow big, you will find that most of the 10 lavender farms in Oregon are south of Portland. Several of them are U-picks. We are all well acquainted with purple lavender but it also comes in beautiful shades of white, blue and pink as well.
Like lavender, many of the herbs we know and love are part of the mint family, which includes basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary and sage. So many things pair beautifully with lavender. Honey, chocolate, lemon, poultry, nuts, potatoes and berries are just a few off the top of my head. Less is more when cooking and baking with it. You want enough that you can taste it, but not so much that it overpowers the other ingredients. Too much, and the result can end up tasting like you are eating a bottle of perfume, which isn’t a pleasant experience. For this week’s column I’m sharing two recipes with you. One is for lavender sugar, which barely qualifies as a recipe as it’s just two ingredients. Occasionally I will make this and leave it in an airtight container on my countertop. It’s perfect in hot tea, iced tea, a cup of coffee or a sprinkle in your bowl of oatmeal. You can stop right there or you can take it a step further and make these lemon lavender cookies with it.
A word to the wise when buying lavender anywhere other than a grocery store. Make sure it is culinary grade. Which means it is meant to be eaten and not just for lotions and perfumes. Whether you choose to bathe in it or bake with it, I hope you all take advantage of Oregon’s lavender harvest.
Lavender Sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dried lavender
Place the lavender on a cutting board then lightly crush it with a rolling pin to release the natural oils.
Mix the crushed lavender with the sugar. Mix well.
Place in an airtight container. This will keep at room temperature for a couple of months.
Lemon Lavender Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup lavender sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed culinary lavender, to sprinkle on the finished cookies
With a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until combined. This will take about two minutes. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and mix to combine.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix just until the dough comes together. Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Wrap tightly and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
While the dough chills, make the lemon drizzle by combining one tablespoon of the lemon juice and powdered sugar. I would start with one tablespoon of lemon juice because you might not need the full two tablespoons. The end result should be thin enough to drizzle.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface to a quarter-inch thickness. Cut the dough using your favorite cookie cutters and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. The cookie cutter I used is about one-and-three-quarter inches across. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies should be lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for one minute. Then place the cookies on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
Spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies to completely cover them or drizzle the glaze over to partially cover them, your choice. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle on a few crushed lavender pieces. Leave the cookies on the cooling rack until the glaze hardens.
This recipe makes about 24 cookies that will keep in an airtight container for five days.