Imagine buttery shortbread melting in your mouth, infused with the calming fragrance of lavender and the sophisticated bergamot notes of Earl Grey tea.

Baking a batch of Lavender Earl Grey Shortbread is as delightful as enjoying the cookie itself. The calming aroma of lavender while you make your floral and tea infused sugar is lovely. Then the sweet scent of vanilla in your kitchen as you bake is a whole sensory experience. Enjoy these cookies dipped in a frothy lavender london fog for a moment of bliss!

Table of Contents

Here's what makes them special:

The Lavender Touch: Culinary-grade dried lavender adds a touch of floral elegance to the dough.
Earl Grey Magic: Finely ground Earl Grey tea is creamed into the butter and then incorporated into the dough, infusing the cookies with their citrusy bergamot flavor.
Timeless recipe: I make variations of this shortbread weekly. The recipe is perfect for rolling out and cutting shapes and has the perfect delicate crumb.
Quality ingredients: Use quality butter as the base of these cookies, ensuring a rich and crumbly texture that melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 cup butter softened, salted 225 grams
½ cup icing / powdered sugar 60 grams
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup corn starch 68 grams
2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams
1 tablespoon dried organic lavender buds
1 tablespoon earl grey tea, loose, fine powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Icing:

Optional earl grey icing:
1 cup icing sugar 125 grams
2 tablespoons cream or milk or choice
1 teaspoon Earl Grey tea, loose, fine powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

overhead image of bowls of ingredients for lavender earl grey shortbread cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 176 C.
Start by making your lavender Earl Grey sugar, which will provide all of your flavor. Do this by grinding up your granulated sugar, vanilla extract, Earl Grey tea, and lavender. I use a mortar and pestle, but a food processor or blender works great, too. Once ground, add your powdered sugar to your mixture and mix until well combined.

Cream butter with your lavender earl grey sugar mix until well incorporated and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, mix your flour and cornstarch together, and then add this to your creamed butter.

You will need to get your hands dirty and really mix well to incorporate all of the butter into the flour. Work it with your hands until the dough becomes a ball. At this point, you can roll the dough out right away or chill it for a few moments. In my experience the dough usually doesn't have to be chilled before baking. However, if I've over handled it or kept it out too long, or it's warm, it may feel very soft and difficult to manage while rolling or cutting shapes. If your shortbread feels too soft, no need to worry. Just pop in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, or until you're ready to bake.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough about ½ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes.
Bake for 12 minutes. Longer if you want them golden brown and more crisp (my personal preference) But they should be done and have a nice crumb, and still be pale at 12 minutes if your oven temperature is correct. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
Let them cool completely and make your icing.

To make your icing, combine your icing sugar, earl grey tea, cream and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until it has a smooth and runny consistency. If it needs to be thinned more, add a few drops of milk.
Dip your cookies into the icing when they're completely cooled, or drizzle icing on.
Let them dry for up to one hour and enjoy!

lavender earl grey shortbread stack 2 scaled

Our tips for perfect shortbread:

We really love our shortbread here. You might have noticed our large collection of botanical shortbreads, like Rose Petal Cardamom Shortbread, Lemon Thyme Shortbread, Pine Needle Shortbread or Orange Rosemary Herbal Shortbread. Here are our top tips for a prefect result.

Choose high quality butter: with so few ingredients, choosing quality butter is important.
Measure ingredients properly: I know not every home baker will want to weigh their ingredients. I blogged for years before even considering it! But, now that I weigh my ingredients, I never make a recipe without grams because just a little too much or too little of any one ingredient can throw off a recipe. And if I'm going through all the trouble to bake, I want to make sure it comes out just as I expected. Here is a great kitchen scale I recommend .If you don't use a kitchen scale, spoon and level your flour for increased likelihood of accuracy.
Chill before baking...sometimes: This recipe has very specific ratios with less butter so that it doesn't bubble and spread, in my experience the dough usually doesn't have to be chilled before baking. However, if I've over handled it or kept it out too long, it still will become very soft and difficult to manage while rolling or cutting shapes. If your shortbread feels too soft, no need to worry. Just pop in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, or until you're ready to bake.
Bake until golden: Despite the recommended baking time, it's best to let the shortbread get slightly golden before removing it from the oven. This ensures they are fully crisp and will continue to harden as they chill for easy handling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 176 C.
Start by making your lavender earl grey sugar where all of your flavor will come from. Do this by grinding up your granulated sugar, the vanilla extract, earl grey tea, and lavender. I use a mortar and pestle, but a food processor or blender works great too. Once ground, add your powdered sugar into your mixture and mix until well combined.
Cream butter with your lavender earl grey sugar mix until well incorporated and fluffy.
In a seperate bowl, combine flour and corn starch and then add to your creamed butter.
You will need to get your hands dirty and really mix well to incorporate all of the butter into the flour. Work it with your hands until the dough becomes a ball. At this point, you can chill the dough if you're not ready to bake, but it's not necessary with this dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough about ½ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes.
Bake for 12 minutes. Longer if you want them golden brown and more crisp (my personal preference) But they should be done and have a nice crumb, and still be pale at 12 minutes if your oven temperature is correct. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
Let them cool completely and make your icing.
To make your icing, combine your icing sugar, earl grey tea, cream and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until it has a smooth and runny consistency. If it needs to be thinned more, add a few drops of milk.
Dip your cookies into the icing when they're completely cooled, or drizzle icing on with a spoon.
Let them dry for up to one hour and enjoy!