Vegan Lemon Lavender Short Bread

It has been really cold this past weekend in Minnesota so it was the perfect weekend to stay inside and do some baking!  I love citrus season so I wanted to make something featuring lemon.  It is such a bright flavor and we could all use a little sunshine right about now.  So I decided to make some Vegan Lemon Lavender Shortbread!  I always love shortbread, since it is so easy to make and it has such a delicious melt in your mouth texture!

I love shortbread because it is so simple.  It comes together quickly and you can be enjoying it in no time!  Since shortbread needs a fat to make it rich, I used Earth Balance vegan butter in place of regular butter and you can not tell the difference (even if I haven't had non-vegan butter in about 13 years, I shared it with people who are not vegans and they agreed).  It works perfectly in these!  For the flour I used whole wheat pastry flour but you could use regular all purpose flour if that is what you prefer and what you have on hand.  Or even a gluten free all purpose baking flour such as Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour which I have tried with good results.

I used plenty of lemon zest in these, plus lemon juice and lemon extract to give them just the right amount of lemon flavor.  Along with lavender flowers I picked last summer, because I love lemon and lavender together, and a little vanilla to sweeten them.  The dough was so delicious even before baking them! They smelled amazing while baking filling my kitchen with the most heavenly aroma!  Once they had cooled down, I drizzled them with some melted vegan white chocolate and they were perfect!

The shortbread cookies were so delicious!  They were melt in your mouth buttery and rich, scented with lemon and fragrant lavender with a hint of vanilla, the sweet white chocolate perfect to top them off!  So heavenly!  If you are a lemon lover and wanting to bake something delicious, definitely give these Vegan Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies a try!

Vegan Lemon Lavender Short Bread

Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 cup or 2 sticks Earth Balance or other vegan butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp dried lavender flowers
• 2 Tbsp lemon zest plus 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup vegan white chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, sea salt, sugar, lavender, lemon zest and vanilla until the butter and sugar are well incorporated.
3. Mix in the baking powder until well incorporated.
4. Mix in the flour until the flour is incorporated.
5. Place the dough in a 9 inch round removable bottom tart pan and press into the pan until it is spread out completely to the edges in an even layer.
6. Score the dough into 16 wedges using a knife, then poke the pieces with a fork a few times.
7. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until set.
8. Remove from the oven, let sit for 10 minutes then re-cut where you scored it with a sharp knife.
9. Let cool completely in the pan.
10. Remove from the pan, and separate.  Place on a cooling rack with space in between each piece.
11. Melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler, and when it is smooth, drizzle it over the shortbread.  Allow to harden.
12. Enjoy!

Shortbread keeps for 1 week at room temperature in an airtight container or 4 months frozen in an airtight container.