I'm beyond excited to share my inaugural post as a permanent member of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen today! This blog has long been one of my favorites to visit with the tempting recipes shared by the members and finding new books to add to my TBR pile. This first post also coincides the day before the audiobook release of Essentials of Murder, the first book in the Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries. So to celebrate, I wanted to come up with a recipe that embodies the spirit of the book by using lavender. And since it's a milestone blog post and a celebration, I decided to up the fun by turning the lemon-lavender cookies into sandwich cookies with a lemon-lavender buttercream.
Lemon-Lavender Sandwich Cookies
Makes 8 3-inch sandwich cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
2
cups all-purpose flour
1/2
teaspoon baking powder
1/4
teaspoon salt
2
teaspoons culinary lavender*
1
cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
Zest
of 1 lemon
1/2
cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1
large egg
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4
teaspoon lavender extract
Coarse
sparkling sugar, optional
For the Lavender Buttercream Filling:
1/2
cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2-1/4
cups confectioners’ sugar
1-1/2
teaspoons culinary lavender, finely ground*
1
tablespoons lemon juice
1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4
teaspoon lavender extract
Gel
or paste purple food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the Cookies:
Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and
set aside.
In a
medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using a
mortar and pestle (or a clean spice/coffee grinder) grind the 1 tablespoon
sugar with the lemon zest and lavender, until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Add the lemon and lavender mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer along with the remaining sugar and the butter. Beat together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add in the egg, vanilla and lavender extracts, and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Cover the
dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Reroll the scrapes no more than twice, and repeat.
Refrigerate the cut-out cookies for ten minutes.
If using, sprinkle the coarse sparkling sugar over the tops of the cutout cookies.
Bake for
9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn barely golden.
Rotate the baking sheet half way through baking. Remove from the oven and allow
to cool for five minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack.
For the Lavender Buttercream Filling:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the butter until creamy.
Gradually
add in the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, and mix until fully
incorporated.
Grind the
lavender into a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.
Add in the
ground culinary lavender, lemon juice, vanilla and lavender extracts. If using,
add gel or paste purple food coloring, a tiny bit at a time, until desired
shade is reached. Mix the buttercream thoroughly between each addition of
color.
If filling is too thick, add additional lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time, whipped well after each addition, until desired consistency is reached.
Continue
to whip the mixture until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Transfer
the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized star tip. Or you may
use a spatula to spread the buttercream on the cookies.
Assembling
the Cookies:
Once the
cookies are completely cool, pipe a generous layer of lavender buttercream onto
the flat side of half the cookies.
Place
another unfrosted cookie on top, flat side toward the buttercream, pressing gently
to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Note: *Be sure to use culinary lavender or, if using from your own garden, lavender that hasn’t been treated with pesticides.
Click on graphic to visit Tantor Audio's page for retailer links:
Refusing to run again, Carissa knows she must prove her innocence to save her shop and save her father’s career when the investigating detective turns his focus on her. With suspects acting as slippery as the essential oils she distills, it’s up to Carissa to apply pressure and sniff out the truth before it’s too late.
Includes essential oil and reflexology tips, and a recipe!
About the Author:
Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. For ten years she’s written the Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder culinary cozy mystery blog, in which she features reviews of cozy mysteries along with a recipe from the book, and photos of the prepared dish. And now she's a member of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen!
Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and
Illustrators.
She lives in Southern
California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has
become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with
her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on
her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to
share.
Click here to sign up here for Kim's newsletter: Newsletter
Connect with Kim on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Bluesky.
And now for the giveaway:
To celebrate my inaugural post AND the release of Essentials of Murder audiobook, I'm giving away winner's choice of print or an ebook copy of Essentials of Murder. Readers, do you listen to audiobooks? If so, where do you listen to them?*
Comment below and include your email (yourname at yourserver dot com) for a chance to win your choice of print or a Kindle ebook copy of Essentials of Murder. (Contest ends 11:59pm on Wednesday, June 11, 2024, and is limited to U.S. residents only.)
*My favorite place to listen to audiobooks is when I'm baking in the kitchen! I've been known to miss an ingredient or recipe step though, when I get overly engrossed in the story.
