Shortbread with Essential Oils

My essential oils are unique in the oil world for many reasons, but one reason is that many of them are safe to ingest, and great for cooking and baking. I've been trying to make an edible creation for each of my classes, and yesterday's class got treated to shortbread cookies drizzled with lavender chocolate. 

Lavender is an excellent oil best known for its relaxing properties, but it's also a wonder to support skin health - we use it for bedtime massages to get both benefits!

Shortbread cookies

This is just a basic shortbread recipe, you could even use a sugar cookie recipe.

3/4 lb of grass-fed, organic butter, softened

1 cup organic sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use maple syrup in the place of vanilla when I'm out)

3 cups all purpose flour (I use a blend of whole wheat and unbleached white flour, if you use just white flour, you might need a little more flour in your recipe)

a pinch of salt if your butter is unsalted

Mix the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add vanilla. Separately, sift the salt into the flour, then slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar. Mix on a low speed until it "comes together." For me, that took about ten minutes. The dough stays pretty crumbly for a long time, but it will eventually start to come together. Wrap it and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Roll the dough to desired thickness (I like between 1/4" and 1/2"), rub with a small amount of sugar, and cut. I didn't have a rectangle shaped cutter, so I used a knife. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. Cool.

Lavender Chocolate Cookies

Chop an organic dark chocolate bar and set up a double boiler. When the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate and add 1-2 drops of lavender essential oil. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies, or dip one end of the cookie into the chocolate. 

(Confession: I forgot to buy a dark chocolate bar, so I used chocolate chips yesterday. Still delicious.)