I think I’m on a bit of a vegan kick these days. First came the Marcona Almond Mayo sans eggs and now these vegan Lemon Lavender Cookies.
Don’t worry, even though this recipe sounds a tad weird, it’s subtle and I think, delicious. It kinda reminds me of the recipe in my gluten free cookbook
- 1¼ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons dried lavender, finely minced
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
- Stir together wet ingredients in a small bowl
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Form ½ inch balls and press onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350°F for 7-10 minutes
- Cool and serve
I cannot take credit for this yummy lemon lavender flavor combination; I actually found it in the 2009 Holiday Baking issue of Cooks Illustrated.
In cookbook related news, I had a radio interview this morning with Zorba Paster and Tom Clarke on the Zorba Paster on Your Health program. These guys are great and I was thrilled to be on their national show which airs on NPR.
The lovely Chef Rachel over at thehealthycookingcoach.com wrote a fabulous review of The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook
For those of you interested in my classes, I have a Gluten Free and Dairy Free Valentine’s Day Cooking Class on February 10th at Bauman College in Boulder, CO. See my classes page for more information.
Donna says
I love the idea of lemon cookies but don’t want the lavender . Is it ok to leave it out or should i add something else? Thsnk you!
Heidi says
Awesome recipe!
I switched it up a little:
Added 1/2 coconut unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2-+ cocoa nibs
Minus the lemon
Added an egg
Added 1tsp vanilla
So yummy!
Amy says
Ridiculously good! I just picked up some fresh cooking lavender from my local farmers market last weekend. My house smells wonderful and they taste so goooood! Cannot wait to have my son come from school, smell the house and indulge in this special treat!
Laurie Skinner says
A gloopy mess! I had cut back the oil to a scant 3 TBS and they were still too oily. Bitter tasting as well. Really wish you had a note beside “almond flour” to indicate Bob’s doesn’t work. A waste of some beautiful (and expensive) ingredients.
Amy says
Laurie, so sorry these didn’t turn out for you! I just made them with BRM flour. I keep in the freezer and let it thaw/warm before I mixed in. I was thinking they were a tad oily, but they turned out. Next time I may cut back on the oil by half and sub with applesauce. Sorry it didn’t work! My GF Vegan baked goods normally don’t…it’s the luck of the draw, I guess!
Steffi says
I made these today and they are delish! However, I notice slight bitter note and I am wondering if it was the lemon zest or the lavender. I also accidentally used a bit too much oil and added a little bit of flax meal (I am notorious to change recipes).
Does anyone have an idea what may have caused the bitterness?
Vi says
I just baked some! Absolutely delicious :) thanks a lot. I’m pregnant and heard lavender cookies are good against nausea, and on top I’m gluten free. Loved the recipe.
Vicky says
I love this recipe, the cookies look delicious! I’ve written an article about lavender to be published tomorrow and have posted a link to your recipe, hope that’s OK?
Rebeca says
Made several batches of the cookies trying to get it right for my taste and to bring to a baby shower were a few of the guests have food allergies:
1st batch: followed the recipe, but used coconut oil (heated to liquify as it is cool in my kitchen in the winter) instead of grapeseed oil (this is the same for all subsequent batches). Results: Looked beautiful with nice chewy texture, but tasted salty, bitter and a bit perfumy. My husband hated them and I was not a fan either. Not sweet enough for me. I will try and eat them with tea as I can’t bear to throw them out.
2nd batch: nixed the salt altogether, halved the lavender and substituted honey for the agave. Results: still look great and have great texture, but still not sweet enough for me, and too perfumy. Not good enough to take to the baby shower, but I had some with a cup of earl grey tea today and they will get eaten, but not made again.
3rd batch: no salt, no lavender, no lemon zest (I was starting to feel like I was wasting lemons), 2 Tbsp honey instead of agave plus 1 Tbsp organic (evaporated cane juice)sugar plus 1Tbsp lemon juice (from one of the previously zested lemons). Results: I wasn’t paying attention and forgot them in the oven so they burned a bit on the bottom but my husband is using them to make nutkao sandwiches so they won’t go to waste. The un-burnt parts were promising enough that I decided to go with this recipe again and double up the last batch as it was getting late and I still had to pack for the trip.
4th (double) batch. Same as above but doubled. Results: Look just as beautiful as the orginals, same great texture (a bit of crunch on the outside, chewy on the inside) but more to our liking. Granted, it’s no longer a lemon-lavender cookie, but I thought I would still share the process because of the other substitutions that other readers sometimes wonder about.
This was my first time baking with almond flour and w/o dairy or eggs and I was really pleased overall. Much better than other gluten free cookies that I have tasted (not made myself) before. I will keep this as a base cookie recipe and keep playing with it. I might try this dough for thumbprint cookies next time.
Note: my bus was ridiculously delayed and I ended up not going to the baby shower as I would not have made it in time, so I’m going to freeze the cookies (as discussed in the forums) and take them to my mom’s Christmas party in 12 days. I’ll post then and let you know how they weathered the freeze.
Rebeca says
So we are eating the 1st and 2nd batch of cookies now. They were in a tin overnight and miraculously they are no longer salty or bitter or too perfumy. We like them! So maybe they just need to rest a while. The last (double) batch are also good, but now my husband thinks he might light the second batch better. Go figure…
Kara says
I’ve been craving lavender cookies for so long now and just bought some lavender this weekend. I’ve been a fan of your blog for a while, but didn’t see this recipe until yesterday; boy was I excited. So I baked a batch today and they are great. I think they could use a bit more lavender though. I omitted the lemon, but they still taste great.
If you have a chance, visit my blog: karascrumbs.wordpress.com
Thanks!
linda says
salty mushy mess & waste of very expessive ingrediants……super disappointed as i am a huge fan
elana says
Hi linda,
I was very concerned when I received your comment so I remade this recipe and they came out very nicely.
You may want to see my FAQs for more information.
Elana
Olga Hermans says
This sounds deicious; I am not much a cookiebaker but I want to try this one out!
elana says
Nancy,
Thanks for your comment.
What brand of almond flour did you use? This could make a difference in terms of oiliness.
Please let me know; I would be happy to help your troubleshoot this recipe.
Elana
Nancy says
I was so excited to make these cookies for May Day baskets. I had some trouble with them though. They seemed to be too oily. the dough was very wet. I am wondering if that is because of the almong flour or the grapeseed oil. I followed the recipe as written. Any suggestions?
ruth Hartman says
I don’t see any lavender listed in the ingredients! R
jamie says
Good cookies although I agree with an above commenter that they are too salty. i would halve the salt next time.
Aidan says
I tried this recipe, and loved it. Here are a few suggestions:
-The lavender wouldn’t chop with a knife, so I finally ground it up in my coffee bean grinder, which worked well.
-It’s a little salty, and not quite as sweet as I would’ve liked. Next time I may adjust the agave/salt ratio. I’m solving the problem with this batch by rolling them in powdered sugar (although this makes them not vegan).
-The cookies don’t flatten out on their own. I made them as round balls, and they came out of the oven as balls. So if you want conventional-cookie-shaped cookies, you have to flatten them.
Rachel Randolph says
I made these for a dinner party with both vegan (me) and gluten-free guests and everyone loved it…even the people with “normal” diets. I couldn’t find lavender, so I soaked a blueberry tea bag in the oil to infuse a little flavor and added 1/2 a vanilla bean and a splash of vanilla extract. I don’t know that those additions actually added much, but it turned out delicious. There were three left over and they never made it home b/c I ate them all in the car on the way home!
I served it with a simple strawberry, lemon, and mint salad. It was the perfect light dessert after a rich pasta meal.
aziza says
I make these delicious cookies a lot, my family loved them. every time I change the flavor. one time I made them with cardamom it was very nice. I made them also with chopped pecan and I used Maple Agave.
your chocolate chip scone in your book is the best, we have the scones for breakfast and for desert sometime even for dinner or lunch, if you have those scones you don’t want to eat anything else. WoooW :) just for change I added orange zest and cranberry Yummmmmmm
We don’t have any problem with gluten but when we eat these scones or the cookies( form Elana) now we cant eat regular cookies with flour . We had to order 50 pounds of almond flour. it is really worth it.
Thank you so much for all your genius ideas :-)
Laura says
I just baked a batch of these cookies and they came out delicious. It was a change to go from gooey dough to this dough that me me has the consistency of new play-do. I had to work it a lot with my hands to make it smooth.
Also I changed the recipe a bit (maybe why I had to work the dough a little more). I forgot the grapeseed oil so I just grabbed vegetable oil and I used 3/4 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of coconut flour.
Tracee says
These are heavenly Elana! My house smells so delightful after baking these this morning. Lisa, I used the silicone liner and they came out just fine. After reading everyone’s posts about lemonade, I can’t wait to find a recipe for that, as this is my first attempt at ingesting lavender and I’m hooked.
My only complaint is the batch isn’t big enough! I’m off to make another!
Lin Goodman says
Where do you buy almond flour?
Carrie Adair says
Hi Elana!
Just wanted to tell you that your almond cookies are a staple in our house.
I vary many options, but our favorite is goji berries, walnuts and dark chocolate chips.
Thanks for your many recipes and your cookbook.
I am a gf person myself and am navigating this non-gf world myself.
Carrie Adair
http://www.wheatfreemom.com
Suzanne says
Mmmmmm….these cookies look delicious! I love the flavors of lavender and lemon together — its truly magical!
Jessica says
*blessings! More than one
Jessica says
Elana, I got your cookbook for christmas (I bought it for myself, how thoughtful) Well the whole truth is my ma gave me the bookshop voucher. Anyway, I have tried 2 recipes so far and they have both been ahhhmazing. What looked like a, forgive me for saying, kind of dull list of ingredients turned into a sensational amazing incredibly delicious how did she do it alchemical wonder Im licking the bowl do I really need to cook it aswell?? masterpiece and it was dairy and gluten free. With minimal sugar. Are you kidding me? No. No Im not.
I have been GF DF low sugar for a year and now I am happily back into baking. Very happily. I cant thank you enough for all the work you do on the blog and answering peoples occasionally stupid questions. You rule. Much love and blessing to you
jackie says
Just made them and ate them. Delicious!!
Whitney says
These cookies are fantastic! Great texture and delicious combination of lavender and lemon. I also like how not much agave is used, as I cannot have sugar and am supposed to seriously limit natural sweetener intake. Thanks!
Lenee says
Just made these today. They are awesome!
Heather says
These cookies sound so wonderful! I wanted to tell you, I’m so excited! My husband bought me your GF almond flour cookbook and I’m getting ready to sit down and look through it! It just arrived in the mail today. Yippee! I’m only at one month of being gluten free, so I need all the advice/help/tips I can get so I can continue to cook for my family like I did before finding out I couldn’t eat gluten anymore. It will be so nice to make one meal for everyone instead of something different for me in addition to what I’m making for them.
Jennifer says
Thanks for all the great recipes. I just ordered your cookbook. I love finding cookie recipes with no eggs as I cannot eat wheat or eggs. Thanks soooo much!
Aubree Cherie says
Hi Elana,
I’m new to your site but I’m sure I’ll come around a lot more often now that I’ve seen how yummy your recipes look. I JUST bought lavender yesterday from a local spice vendor because I knew there must be something fun to make with it. This recipe looks amazing, I’m going to have to try it! Thanks for posting :)
~Aubree Cherie
Rhonda says
I cant wait to try these. In the oven as we speak : ). The cookbook is so beautiful, I have enjoyed so many of the recipes. Thank you for all your time and effort in making great food. I am now sugar free, on top of being gluten free for the past year. I treasure the chocolate chip cookie of yours! My family and friends enjoy them more than the old sugar/gluten laden Toll House. Thanks again!
Rhonda says
AMAZING!!!! I had to post again. These are so wonderful tasting and beautiful to look at too! Would be great for a tea party. I didn’t have any lavender so, I substituted poppy seeds. SO DELISH! Thanks again for a great
healthy recipe! Your awesome…Rhonda
Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen says
I love the flavor combination of lavender and lemon. I like to make lavender lemonade in the summer!
Diane says
I made lavender cookies before so I know these will be yummy! And now they will be glutenfree and healthy. Thanks, Elana!
Anne says
I’ve always heard that for culinary lavender, it’s important to use the first harvest of the year. After that it can taste bitter.
Lisa Stafford says
Elana,
What do you think about using a silicone liner for the cookie sheet instead of parchment paper? They are $19.99 at Bed bath and beyond, and it seems like they would pay for themselves because they are reusable.
If I use a silicone liner, do I still need to let your cookies cool before transferring, like the chocolate ones that can be used for whoopie pies?
Thanks.
Steffi says
I use silicon sheets for all of my baking now since several months. They are awesome and yes, it is advisable to let the cookies cool, at least a bit.
naomi says
They sound delicious, a little summer in the middle of winter. x x x
dorothy says
Those cookies look divine. I grew some culinary lavender last summer which will soon be in these cookies! Thank you Elana!
Stephanie says
Yum! My favorite summer drink is a lavender lemonade. I have this huge lavender bush that’s taken over my yard, and I just love it! I cut and dry it every year. I’ll have to see if I have any left from last year’s batch to make this recipe.
eatmovelove says
Yum! You are delightful Elana!!
If anyone wishes the chance to win a free copy of Elana’s Gluten-free/almond flour cookbook – I am doing a giveaway on my blog -the deadline is tommorow at noon (central time)!
Namaste
patty schurz says
Wow…..I’d love to win the recipe book. I have recently been diagnosed with Celiac and multiple other allergies. (yuk) I have been experimenting but although I was a good baker in the world of wheat, I am failing miserably in the gluten free world. I really am frustrated with throwing so many expensive ingredients in the dumpster when my baked goods taste like (&x%!
Anyway, please enter my name in your contest.
Thanks!
Patty
Hannah Handpainted says
It sounds divine and aromatic. I also like making cookies with tea.
Christine says
Cookies with tea? Do you mean dried tea? That sounds great…
Liat says
Hi Elena,
Where do you get the dried lavender? In a nature shop?
I’m looking forward trying these. I just made the sesame cookies and they came out really well! Yum! I love Halva cookies and last time I was in Israel I tried making a gluten free version with a mixture of flours like rice and tapioca, but they didn’t taste great. Not good enough to be worth their calories anyways. Your version with the almond flour is perfect! Less carbs and lots more taste!
Thank you!!
Dena says
Liat, for another halva cookie, check out this recipe at recipezaar.com: Quinoa Tahini Cookies, Recipe #159837. When I made them and my 6 yo halva-addicted neighbor tasted them, she pronounced them delicious and asked if I’d give her mom the recipe! She would frequently ask me, after that, to make “halva cookies”. They are definitely worth the calories.
Liat says
Thanks Dena!! These sound great. Although I’ll have to replace the brown sugar and honey. I’ll give them a try :o)
Beth says
Thanks for the link Dena.
I’ve printed the recipe and will try soon.