Rosemary Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I have decided that these are my new favorite cookies.

I understand that this is a pretty bold statement. However, I can assure you that these cookies will live up to their name in the world of tangy/herby goodness and I cannot get enough of them. On that last note, I also made sure to hand these off to my boyfriend quickly so they were not hanging around my kitchen too long.

Why do I like these cookies so much? I have forever been the queen of ordering the savory/sweet combo when I go out to eat and plotting with my table mates about what they can order so that we can split them in half and share. If I order the tofu scramble, I am also longing for those blueberry pancakes in the same sitting. Now, you can have the best of both worlds in a single cookie and no one has to share. 

I jumped at the chance to use rosemary from my “garden” in this recipe but you can also find it at the grocery store. You do want to use fresh herbs though, so none of that dried stuff in here, okay? I say “garden” because I realized that I have the least green thumb of anyone I know. I killed a cactus in college once because I didn’t realize my dark bedroom wasn’t a good place for a plant. By the time I moved it to the window sill in the kitchen, it was essentially dead. Somehow, this rosemary plant has survived my lack of gardening knowledge, forgetting to water it all summer (thank you, Minnesota rain), and leaving it outside until the beginning of November. Now, this rosemary plant is recovering in my kitchen and looking rather sad. Stay strong, little guy.

But enough about my lack of gardening skills, here’s the recipe.

---

 

Rosemary Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes (includes 1 hour chill time)

Servings: 2 dozen medium sized cookies

 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup vegan butter, softened to room temp
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (+ 3 TBSP for sprinkling over top of cookies)
• juice of one lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• dash of salt

 

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl at medium speed until mixed thoroughly.
2. Add lemon juice, zest, rosemary and vanilla extract to bowl and mix once or twice to combine.
3. Add salt and flour in 1/2 cup increments, mixing continuously to combine.
4. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
5. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
6. After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a lightly floured surface to about 1/4″ thickness.
7. Cut out your shapes and then continue to roll out dough/cut shapes until you have used up all the dough.
8. Sprinkle the tops lightly with granulated sugar (optional) and bake for about 15 minutes until the cookies are ever so slightly brown around the edges. Rotate the cookies halfway through to bake evenly.
9. Allow the cookies to cool for 1 hour before storing in an airtight container for up to two weeks.