Honey-Lavender Shortbread with Strawberry Preserves

November 1, 2017

These golden Honey-Lavender Shortbread cookies with strawberry preserves—flavored with vanilla, honey, lavender, and cardamom—sandwich a layer of strawberry jam.

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Honey-Lavender Shortbread with Strawberry Preserves

Makes approximately 2 dozen sandwich cookies

Ingredients

2 cups unsalted butter
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved
⅔ cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped fresh culinary lavender
2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar
1 cup strawberry preserves

Instructions

In a large bowl and using a mixer at medium speed, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, reserved vanilla-bean seeds, honey, and vanilla extract until creamy.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, fresh lavender, dried lavender, cardamom, and salt.
Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined.
Remove dough from bowl, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350˚. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Using a 2¼-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut as many cookies as possible, rerolling scraps until all dough is used. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets. Using a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter, remove centers from half of cookies; sprinkle resulting cutout cookies evenly with sparkling sugar.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges of cookies are slightly browned. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, and transfer to wire racks to let cool completely.
Spread heart cookies with approximately 2 teaspoons each strawberry preserves, and sandwich with cutout heart cookies. Sandwich cookies can be stored, at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.