Lemon Verbena Shortbread

I have all sorts of new herbs out on my balcony. I think that the lemon verbena is my favourite. You can use it to make tea. You can also use it to make cookies! I wanted to make shortbread and I could imagine in my thoughts already that a hint of lemon might fit well for this tender buttery cookie. It worked! It's a wonderful combination. And I loved the warm and subtle lemony scent that filled my flat after I had baked these cookies...

Recipe
(adapted from here)

100g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp lemon verbena, finely chopped
140g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp lemon zest

210g plain all-purpose flour
3 large egg yolks

granulated sugar (for coating)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Whisk the icing sugar and herbs together in a bowl. Add the butter, lemon zest and mix with an electric hand mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add the flour and mix until well combined. Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms. I first used the electric mixer and then my hands to form the dough into a disk. Chill in the refrigerator until firm (about 30 minutes).

Roll the dough out to 1 cm thickness. Cut the dough with a cookie cutter and toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.

Place the sugar-coated cookie on a parchment lined tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. I rolled out the dough thinner than 1cm, baked it for about 10 minutes and ended up with 20 cookies.

The fabulous glass dish comes from Wohnallerlei, a charming little shop near the Rigiplatz in Zurich. Silvia sells all sorts of beautiful home accessories. I go there whenever I'm on the lookout for new things for decorating. Plates, cups, postcards, napkins, ribbons... I love all the different colors, patterns and materials... I usually have a hard time narrowing my choice down to a few things only ;-) Go check it out! Also, if you need a cute present, this surely is the right place.