Lemon and Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

I was a little adventurous and tried this Lemon and Rosemary Shortbread Cookie recipe the other day. I came across this on My Baking Addiction and was intrigued with the notion of adding herbs in baking. I realize that the herb in the pictures are thyme and not rosemary, but I accidentally got a little too carried away, chopped up all the rosemary and plonked them into the cookie dough when the recipe only specifically called for one tablespoon. I must have added 2 and a half tablespoons of the stuff, and the cookies ended up a bit overpowered by the rosemary sigh.

But don’t get me wrong, the texture was great especially with the addition of wholemeal flour! The recipe called for freezing the cookie dough, which made it stiffer and crispier than my usual cakey-textured cookie. This experience taught me to read the instructions twice over, and today when I used herbs in baking, I made sure that I chopped up exactly the amount of leaves the recipe asked for – double and triple checking!

Lemon and Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
My Baking Addiction

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
Sanding sugar for rolling (optional)

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest, vanilla and egg and beat until incorporated.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together both kinds of flour, salt and rosemary.
3. With the mixer on low, gently add dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mix until ingredients are well combined and a stiff dough is formed.
4. Cut two 12x16 inch pieces of plastic wrap. Divide dough in half placing one half of the dough on each piece of plastic wrap. Use your hands to form two 1 ½ inch diameter logs. Open the plastic wrap and sprinkle logs with sanding sugar (if using) and roll a bit more to coat the logs well in the sugar. Wrap logs tightly in the plastic wrap, place on baking sheet and freeze logs for 1 hour or until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
6. Remove dough logs from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap. Slice dough into ¼ inch thick slices and place on prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart.
7. Bake until cookies are just golden at the edges, about 16-18 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on wire racks. Store cookies in an air tight container for up to 4 days.