If you are wondering about using lavender in a recipe I can offer a couple of tips. The first thing you need to be sure of is that your lavender is food grade. Not all lavender produced is of a quality to be edible. You want to make sure that it is not full of pesticides for one thing. What you are looking for is culinary lavender.

This is the sweetest lavender available and often called “true English lavender.” You can add the lavender flowers to sugar or honey for sweetening tea. Just be aware that once you do the floral sweetener cannot be kept indefinitely so be sure to use it!

One way I have found to use this lovely flower is in a traditional favorite – the madeleine. These delicious little cookie cakes are perfect vehicles for so many different flavors – I have made double vanilla madeleines and found them perfect with a cup of tea. This time around I tried these lovely treats with lavender.

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Lavender Madeleines

2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/5 tsp Lavender
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter plus more for the pan

For the Glaze

4 TBS powdered sugar
2 – 4 TBS water
1 tsp lavender

Preheat oven to 375°
If using a madeleine pan lightly coat the pan with butter or cooking spray. If you don’t have a madeleine pan you can use a cupcake tin or pour the batter into a sheet pan and cut into squares. Lightly coat any pan you are using with butter or spray.
Melt the 1/2 cup of butter and set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl crush together the sugar and lavender. Add the vanilla, eggs and melted butter

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix until incorporated

Add about 2 TBS batter into each madeleine cup – about 3/4 full, but no more
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes

Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan

Cool completely while making the glaze
To make the glaze, add powdered sugar to a small bowl and mix with water until you get the consistency you want.

Dip cooled madeleines in glaze and sprinkle with lavender. Let set for 30 minutes before serving

How Were the Lavender Madeleines?

Truth be told I was a little bit nervous because I know that in using lavender it’s a fine line between tasting good and tasting soapy. This recipe walked that line beautifully. These cookies had just the lightest hint of lavender – enough to tease but not enough to overwhelm.

I will admit that we ate most of them without the glaze and extra lavender buds. They were delightful that way. Also, with these cookie/cakes – they do not hold well. They are best eaten the first day. It’s not as if they are bad on successive days, they just get dryer and less cake like.

If you are not going to eat them or gift them be sure to freeze them. They thaw very quickly and then can be enjoyed pretty much as if they were same day baked. If you do offer these lavender cookies as a gift be sure to let the recipient know that they should be eaten right away or stored in the freezer.