Today I am participating in another blog hop! Isabel from The Family Foodie suggested that our group do a progressive dinner. Starting today at 5 pm EST we will all be tweeting and talking about our progressive dinner courses.
We have everything from soup to homemade bread and oyster shooters, and a wine pairing for each course. Follow the hashtag #SundaySupper to join us!
Have you participated in a progressive dinner?
I had never heard of one until I saw that a group I am apart of decided to do a virtual progressive dinner. I was intrigued. I noticed they still needed someone to do a dessert, so I happily signed up!
One of the people had described a progressive dinner like a pot luck type dinner. A group of people comes together, picks and theme, decides who will make what course, then on the day of the event travel from house to house eating each others offerings.
When looking at the different items people were going to bring, I wasn’t sure what to pair the dessert with. Normally I like the dessert to balance out dinner.
After much consideration, I decided to focus on the rustic chicken.
I found this recipe from Joy the Baker a few weeks ago and thought it would be a delicious compliment to the chicken.
These lavender shortbread cookies are a lovely change on a traditional shortbread cookie.
The lavender is subtle but floral. And the turbinado sugar adds a great flavor and crunch.
When Eileen was asking me what the cookie tasted like (when finding a wine paring) I found them a bit hard to describe. Buttery, crispy, salty, herbal…
Based on that Eileen chose a lovely Cupcake Prosecco to pair with the cookies.
I also loved how quick this recipe was. The dough only took 7 minutes to come together, sat in the refrigerator for a bit, then was ready to bake.
You can make it before you start dinner, leave it in the fridge while you make dinner, then bake the cookies while everyone else cleans up!
Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Recipe from Joy the Baker - makes about 50 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp dried lavender blossoms
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp raw turbinado sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2-3 tbsp milk (for brushing the cookies)
- Additional raw sugar for sprinkling on the cookies
To Make the Cookies:
- In a bowl mix together the flour and sea salt. Set aside.
- In a spice grinder (I used my new Cuisinart Hand Blender!) grind the lavender + 1 tbsp raw sugar until very finely ground.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the butter, sugar, and lavender mixture with the paddle attachment for 5 minutes. It will be very light and creamy! (I occasionally stopped the mixer to scrape down the sides)
- After 5 minutes add the flour and beat on low speed until the dough comes together. It was in large chunks when I poured it out of the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Once you are ready for it, take out the dough and roll it out to 1/4 – 1/2 inch thickness then lightly prick the dough with a fork. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
- Place the cut out cookies on parchment or silicone lined cookie sheets and brush with the milk then sprinkle a bit of the raw sugar on top of each cooke. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oven is preheated bake the cookies for 8-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.
- Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets then finish cooling on cookie racks.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the dinner, and tweet about your dinner with the hashtag #SundaySupper!
About bigfatbaker
I love shortbread and so does my husband. I have some lavender plants and this year I’ll try to pick and dry the blooms to use for these cookies. Recipe is bookmarked!
Ooh fresh lavender? I am so jealous. They will be lovely!
Oh, how fun, Erin!!! We used to do neighborhood progressive dinners…you’ve reminded me how amazing they were! Great cookies, too…and your photography has gotten SO good!!! Beautiful post~
Thank you Liz! It still needs a lot of work, and I need more props
I bet a progressive dinner would be so fun! I was thinking an apartment one would be fun…but I don’t know my neighbors lol
They are beautiful! love the photos!
Wow, these look so elegant! I bet your kitchen must have been extremely fragrant
i’ve never thought about putting lavender in shortbread before, but i’ve heard about it a lot! elegant cookies! perfect for a tea party
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Very intresting and so pretty! I never thought of baking or cooking with lavender blossoms.
Wow!Erin, this is unbelievable! Delicious-looking! I can almost smell them. My wife made what we call Camel Cookies last night. It’s a family tradition. She’s Lebanese. Essentially Camel Cookies are shortbread cookies in the shape of camels. No lavender, but… wow! I wish we had some!
They even look pretty! I don’t think I have ever seen lavender carried in stores for baking, but at the same time I can’t say I’ve ever been looking for it either. But I did notice you link to amazon to buy it as well. I’m going to try to find it in person first, but glad to have that link just in case! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Oh, wow. So pretty. And how awesome did your kitchen smell? Beautiful
Hi, lovely cookies. I use lavender regularly to put myself to sleep ( horrible Insomnia ) wondering if these cookies will put me to sleep ..mmmm may try it. will be a delish way to nod off into dreamyland
Love that you use Fresh lavender
Such a creative (and fragrant!!!) shortbread!
the cookies look fantastic! I’ve always wante to try cookies with lavender, they seem delicious
Have never eaten anything with lavender in it. Awesome clicks and fabulous cookie recipe. What I like best about them is that they are so easy to make! I will keep my eyes open for lavender and try your cookies. thanks for sharing
I’ve always wanted to try cooking/baking with lavender, but I’m a little nervous about it for some reason. But this shortbread looks perfect! Maybe it’s time for me to take the plunge and do it!
Yum!I love cooking with lavender, especially since I have a bunch growing in my garden. These look almost too pretty to eat
I simply adore shortbread, and I am a huge fan of all things lavender! These are so pretty and must be delicious
The cookies look wonderful. I love the pop of purple.
Yum Erin I finally found some culinary lavender and am looking forward to baking/cooking with it..