Lavender Snickerdoodles

These are the Lavender Snickerdoodles referred to in the previous post.  They are always a crowd-pleaser and are quickly devoured at parties.

The recipe below is an adaptation of the normal snickerdoodle recipe (in which ground cinnamon is used).  The difference is that ground lavender has been substituted into the recipe on a 1:1 basis.  So, if you don't like lavender, sub back in the cinnamon and you have the standard classic.

Lavender Snickerdoodles

3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2/3 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground lavender (grind lavender flowers in a clean blade coffee grinder, works wonders)
1/4 tsp. salt

For Rolling:
1/3 Cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground lavender

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  

Cream together the granulated sugar, the light brown sugar, and the butter.  Ideally an electric mixer would be used as the creaming method takes a lot of elbow grease if done by hand.  You are looking for a consistency of something approaching cake frosting, and it should take a good while, probably around 5-10 minutes of constant mixing.

Beat in the egg and vanilla until well incorporated.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground lavender.  Add this mixture to the butter/egg mix until just combined, do not over work it.

Sarah and I prefer to chill the dough at this point as it makes it easier to handle, but it isn't completely necessary.  Roll bits of the dough into 1 inch diameter balls and roll in a combined sugar/ground lavender mix until completely coated.  Lay out on a lightly greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for about 10 minutes until the bottoms are just lightly browned.  Remove and cool on wire racks.

Note that it is a good idea to cool the cookie sheet slightly between bakings.  This way the hot cookie sheet won't start heating your cookies through before you're ready to put them in the oven.

Don't be afraid to try other seasonings.  The generalized recipe always produces cookies with a consistent crumb so mix it up.  Maybe try lemon and rosemary, or cinnamon and cayenne pepper, maybe cardamom and nutmeg.  Lots of different options.