Author Notes
These nontraditional shortbreads deliver a burst of flavor from toasted oats and lavender. They love to be served with tea, even more so with a glass of champagne and vanilla ice cream. They love to be served with cheese at the end of a meal. They love to be packed into a school lunch. They make great roadtrip snack. They make great movie companion. And for a very unusual breakfast/brunch on a hot sunny day, try them with whipped goat cheese and lemon coulis (http://food52.com/recipes...). —QueenSashy
Test Kitchen Notes
This shortbread was sublime. The oats contributed an almost coconutty texture and a lovely toastiness, and the lavender was a delightful, graceful note. We thought they were delicious right out of the oven, but, as the notes say, they were even better the next day: a little sturdier for packing and with a deeper flavor. Next time I will dial down the salt a tad. Much as we adore salt, using unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon of salt was a little too much for us. There will definitely be a next time -- these were delicious! —lmikkel
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
-
1 1/4 cups
rolled oats
-
8 tablespoons
(1 stick) butter, softened
-
1/4 cup
sugar
-
1/2 cup
all-purpose flour
-
1 teaspoon
salt (several folks mentioned in their comments that they reduced the amount of salt. I like my shortbreads on the salty side, so take a note of that)
-
3/4 tablespoon
dry lavender flowers
Directions
-
Preheat the oven to 325° F convection (or 350° F for a regular oven). Toast the oats for about 10 minutes. Let the oats cool completely and then process in a food processor, until powdery.
-
Beat the butter with sugar until creamy. Stir in the oats, flour, salt, and lavender. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together. Scrape the dough out onto a work surface and pat it into a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Wrap up the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, about 2 hours.
-
Preheat the oven to 325°F convection (or 350°F regular bake). Slice the dough into 1/4-inch thick slices and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Prick the top of the shortbreads with a fork. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden (somehow, for a lot of cookies in my oven I found 22 minutes to be the magic number). Slide the parchment onto a wire rack and let the shortbreads cool.
-
The shortbreads can be kept in an airtight container for about a week.
Aleksandra aka QueenSashy is a scientist by day, and cook, photographer and doodler by night. When she is not writing code and formulas, she blogs about food, life and everything in between on her blog, Three Little Halves. Three Little Halves was nominated for 2015 James Beard Awards and the finalist for 2014 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. Aleksandra lives in New York City with her other two halves, Miss Pain and Dr. V.
See what other Food52ers are saying.