Edible Flower Lemon Shortbread Cookies
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Enjoy the best of spring & summer with these stunning Edible Flower Lemon Shortbread Cookies, perfectly balanced with zesty lemon and buttery goodness.
Picture this: a sunny afternoon, the scent of freshly baked lemony shortbread and the colorful display of edible flowers. What’s not to love?! We took our reader-favorite lemon shortbread and decided to give it a fun twist for spring. The best part? There’s no need for icing or intricate piping thanks to the edible flowers on top!
5 Simple Ingredients For The Best Edible Flower Cookies
- Lemon Zest – Finely grated lemon zest infuses these cookies with a burst of bright citrus flavor, thanks to our easy lemon sugar trick!
- Granulated Sugar – In addition to sweetening, granulated sugar helps with the structure and keeps the cookies from spreading too much.
- Salted Butter – While adding richness, tenderness, flavor, and structure, salted butter eliminates the need for additional salt in this cookie.
- All-Purpose Flour – The base of our tender shortbread, all-purpose flour gives these cookies the perfect light and crumbly texture.
- Edible flowers – Fresh edible flowers lend a pop of color that makes these cookies fun and beautiful!
⊹ A Note on Flowers! ⊹
Remember, only use edible flowers for this recipe! Pansies, violas, lavender, nasturtiums, and calendula are some of our favorites. Make sure they come from a source you trust, free of pesticides and chemicals. We love sourcing ours from Gourmet Sweet Botanicals!
Our Secret Ingredient!
Lemon sugar is our secret to incredibly flavorful lemon shortbread. But how do we make it? Well, luckily, it’s actually SO easy and quick to do.
- Combine sugar and zest. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the granulated sugar and all of the lemon zest.
- Rub it in. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. This releases the fragrant citrus oils and infuses the sugar beautifully!
And that’s how we make lemon sugar, which is key to a delicious shortbread.
Time To Make The Dough
Once you have your lemon sugar ready, add your room temperature butter to the mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix until crumbly.
Use the heat of your hands to gently bring the dough together into a smooth ball.
⊹ Tip For Success! ⊹
Wondering where shortbread gets its name? It all comes down to texture! Shortbread is all about that rich, buttery, crumbly goodness. While ingredients are important, the most important part is not overworking your dough! Overworking the dough strengthens the gluten. This creates a chewier texture, which isn’t what we want with shortbread. So, remember: gentle mixing is the secret to melt-in-your-mouth shortbread!
Roll & Cut The Dough
Place the dough on a piece of parchment and roll to about ⅜ inch thick. Using a round cutter (I like to use this double sided cutter to give me smooth edges AND scalloped edges), cut cookies.
⊹ Tip For Success! ⊹
We know how cookie dough can stick to your rolling pin. So, we found the perfect solution without having to refrigerate it! Simply place another piece of parchment paper over the cookie dough and roll as normal.
Add The Flowers Before Baking
Yes, before baking! During testing, we found that it’s best to let the flowers slowly bake atop the cookies. This intensifies their flavor as well as allows them to adhere to the cookie. Once you cut the dough and place the cookies on your prepared baking sheet, bake the cookies at 325℉ for 12-13 minutes.
✳ Recipe FAQ’s
More Recipes You Will Love
When you make these Edible Flower Lemon Shortbread Cookies, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Happy baking!
x, Caylie
Edible Flower Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons lemon zest
- 7½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup all purpose flour*
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Edible flowers
Instructions
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Heat oven to 325℉.
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Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl, combine sugar and lemon peel.
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Use your fingers to rub the peel and sugar together.
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Add butter.
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Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
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Mix in flour and salt.
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Turn out onto a non-stick surface (parchment paper, silicone mat, marble board).
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Cover with a piece of parchment.
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Roll to ⅜ inch thick.
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Use a 2¼" scalloped cookie cutter to cut out. (If you haven't used any flour to roll out the dough, you can gather the scraps and re-roll.)
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Place on prepared baking sheet.
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Top each cookie with an edible flower.
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Press down lightly to hold in place.
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Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until just starting to color around the edges.
Notes + Tips!
- Room temperature is about 70℉.
- Use an oven thermometer to ensure accurate cooking temperatures.
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Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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