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 for Rosemary Hazelnut Cookies.
Lemon Lavender Cookies
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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 –in fact, I think she explains some things in it better than I do. You may want to check out her The Ice Dream Cookbook. Thanks Rachel!
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.
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