Lavender Shortbread
From: Shepherd's Garden Seeds Catalog. 1994
Yield: About 4 dozen

A lovely rich shortbread with a hint of sweet lavender fragrance and flavor. Perfect to serve with tea in the afternoon.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (no substitutes), room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp lavender florets, chopped
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

GARNISH
Lavender powdered sugar
(To make lavender powdered sugar, put a few lavender flowers in a sealed, pint jar of powdered sugar for a day before using sugar.)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender and mint; mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch and salt; beat until combined. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm.

On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 3/8-inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1-inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with the tines of a fork.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar. Store in tin cookie boxes or sealed containers.