Well, it’s been a crazy few days around here. As many of you know, Lane spent the last week in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. In a fun twist of fate, we actually had booked overlapping trips and had great plans for a fun dinner out in the land of sunshine. Unfortunately, I was caught up in the spectaular Delta scheduling debacle last weekend and my flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix was ultimately cancelled and we didn’t make it to Arizona in time to reschedule. I decided to drown my sorrows in some baked goods. Enter: Lemon Rosemary Shortbread.
These buttery little cookies are, in my humble opinion, the perfect combination of sweet and just a little bit savory. They pair beautifully with a great cup of tea or a glass of wine. And, best of all, they are really easy to make and don’t require a lot of fancy equipment or ingredients. You need good butter, fresh lemon juice (none of that bottled juice!) and a small bit of fresh rosemary. In other words, they are my kind of cookie: simple and so very good.
The key to success is not rushing: you need to really let your butter soften before making the dough and definitely give the mixed dough time to chill before cutting the cookies. Other than that, it’s really just a “throw it in the mixer” kind of recipe. You can absolutely keep the chilled dough in the fridge for a day or two before baking or even the dough in the freezer for later.
If round cookies aren’t your thing, or you just want to get fancy with some shapes, you can also roll it out into a 1/4″ thick slab and cut the cookies into whatever shape your little heart desires. I’m a bit of a lazy cook so I went with rustic rounds. Traditional shortbread rectangles or squares work beautifully as well.
One word of advice: don’t skip the glaze or the extra lemon zest and sprinkle of turbinado sugar. They really highlight the lemon flavor of the cookies and the sugar give it just the tiniest bit of sweet crunch. That being said, if you want to bring out more of the savory – the naked cookie is fantastic in it’s own right.
Lemon Rosemary Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons lemon zest divided
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
For The Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar.
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Add the vanilla and lemon juice and mix until just combined.
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With the mixer on low, add in the flour, salt, 2 teaspoons of the lemon zest and rosemary and allow to mix until a dough forms. Do not over mix.
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Using your hands, roll the dough into a log shaped, approximately 2.5 in diameter and cover with plastic wrap.
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Chill the dough for at least an hour.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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With a serrated knife, gently slice the chilled dough into 1/4 inch thick cookie rounds.
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Place the rounds on your prepared cookie sheet, allowing a half inch between cookies.
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Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown.
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While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze by gently whisking together the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
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Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool.
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When mostly cool, top the cookies with a small amount of the glaze and sprinkle each cookie with the remaining lemon zest and a small amount of turbinado sugar.
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Keep in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze.
And because you’ll want to Pin this one for later:
This has my name all over it! I love lemon and it’s brilliant that you incorporated rosemary too! Just lovely!
Christina-I love lemon and rosemary too. Actually, I love lemon and anything!
Yum – lemon and shortbread, yes!!! I just pinned this – i need to make these…the sooner the better!
And it’s easy too!
Wow, these look great for an afternoon tea party!
You are speaking our language Lyndsay!
Love shortbread cookies and this is a fun twist adding the lemon and rosemary. Never would have thought to try that.
The updated shortbread is SO good!
This says ¨come eat me ASAP¨ all over it! This looks absolutely mouthwatering! I´m so giving this recipe a try this weekend! Thanks for sharing such a delightful recipe! 🙂
It’s so nice and easy! Enjoy!
These cookies look beutiful! I don’t bake with rosemary too much, aside from bread, and I really should! Lemon is one of my favorte flavors.
I love rosemary and try to use it in anything and everything!!
Lemon + Rosemary… could you ask for a more spring like cookie! I am sharing this recipe with my mother in law. She loves to bake and grows her own rosemary. These sound so delish.
Rosemary is one of our favorites! And lemon-yep, hello spring!
mmmmmm! Please bring these over NOW! Are you on Uber Eats? They look amazing.
So sweet! Someday maybe we’ll cook for everyone!
Love the lemon and rosemary combination in these shortbread! They’ll make a perfect Easter treat for the dessert table!
Thanks! The best part-they’re easy!
These sounds delicious. I like lemon flavored treats in the spring and summer.
Right? Lemon is so refreshing!
I adore shortbread cookies! I love the idea of the rosemary in these…how fantastic is that?! I have to make these ^_^ Toodles~
Lemon and Rosemary turns out to be a winning combination!
I’m so glad I came across your blog, I love it! I’ve been searching for a shortbread recipe for awhile, these look delicious. Pinning for later 🙂
Thanks for visiting Jenna! Hope you’ll come back soon!
Lemon + rosemary -such great flavor combo!
Thanks Meg!
lemon and rosemary are a flavor match made in heaven!
Right? Yum!
The combination of flavors sounds incredible! I can’t wait to try these out!
They were a big hit!
Now I need to have some sort of brunch or tea party! Thank you for this recipe 🙂
I was thinking tea party…would be so fun!
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!