Edible Flower Shortbread Cookies

Edible Flower Shortbread Cookies

These edible flower shortbread cookies are the perfect easy baking project to pair with your springtime gardening! I’ve had a ton of time to be in my garden this Spring which has helped me keep distracted. If you haven’t planted any edible flowers, I highly suggest ordering some seeds! They’re so fun to grow and decorate dishes like salads, pasta, and cookies! This shortbread recipe is one I use over and over again. It retains its shape so perfectly and you can bake them thick. It’s versatile, you can use it as a sugar cookie base and ice them, or like this dusted with sugar. I love this particular pretty flower version as a tea biscuit! And with just a few ingredients, it’s one of the easiest cookie recipes I know!

Edible Flower Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Butter, Softened
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• Edible Flowers
• Sugar for Dusting

Instructions

1. On a piece of parchment paper, lay out your flowers face down. Cover with another piece of parchment paper topped with heavy books. Let flatten for 30 minutes.
2. In an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the softened butter with the sugar.
3. Reduce speed and add vanilla and salt until incorporated.
4. Add the flour at low speed 1 cup at a time.
5. When the dough is formed, it’s ready to use right away or can be refrigerated in plastic wrap.
6. Roll your dough out to about 1/4 inch thick on a floured cookie sheet (this is a thicker than usual cookie).
7. Cut out your desired cookie shapes with cookie cutters leaving about an inch in between each cookie and pull away the scrap pieces of dough. This technique helps retain perfectly cut shapes directly on your cookie sheets! You can then simply add the scrap dough pieces to your dough ball and continue cutting more.
8. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. Check to make sure the edges don’t brown and the centers are cooked through for a perfectly soft cookie.
9. While the cookies are freshly out of the oven and hot, press the flowers gently onto the tops of the cookies using your fingertips. The heat will fuse the flowers to the cookies. Be sure to slowly go around the edges of the flowers with gentle pressure.
10. Dust the tops of the cookie cutouts with sugar.
11. Extra tip: I freeze my cookie cutouts on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before I bake to further keep them from losing their shape.