Orange and Lavender Crisps

I thought I put them up high enough, I really did.  Boxes stacked up, one on top of the other, in the middle of a table, surrounded by books.  You'd think this makeshift barricade would be enough.  But then, you don't know Pancha.  My wonderful little mutt, we've been together for more than 5 years, and she's been off the street for that long.  But she still has something of the homeless puppy in her, she's still very worried about starving.  If you let her, she'll try to convince you that she hasn't eaten in days (a lie) and that she absolutely must have a bite of whatever you're eating, or she'll be in danger of withering away.  And if her performance isn't convincing enough, her cunning should get the job done.

So once these cookies were cool enough to be stored, I put them into boxes and tried to get them out of her reach when I left the apartment. (We're very short on high counter spaces over here.)  Thankfully I got to sample one first, because when I came home, she had managed to drag the box to the edge of the table, open the lid, and without making any sort of a mess, pluck the cookies one by one from their container, as she's not one to dump food on the ground.  The most delicately flavored, lacy little dog treats.  Which is why I only have pictures of them on the cooling racks.

Maybe it's just that she was as tired of winter as the rest of us, and needed something bright and spring-like.  Citrus and lavender, the cleanest of flavors to wipe away the cobwebs of winter.  Both Pancha and I, evidently, loved the flavor of these little treats.  Although I had a spreading problem when they were baking (which is par for the course when it comes to me and cookies), the flavor made up for it.

Orange and Lavender Crisps

From The Great Big Cookie Book

1/2 cup sugar

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract diluted in 1 1/2 teaspoons water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Place the first three ingredients into a food processor and process on high until everything is finely minced and the lavender and zest are distributed throughout the sugar.  Set aside.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer (or standing mixer) then add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the orange extract and the salt, then stir in the flour gently.

Oven preheated to 375F, 2 cookie sheets, ungreased

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.

Roll the dough out on a lightly flour surface, to about 1/8" thick.  cut into small cookies (I used a 1 1/2" flower, as you can see) and place on the baking sheets.  Bake in the center of the oven for 7 - 9 minutes, until golden but not too browned.

Let cool on the pan for about half a minute, then transfer to cooling racks to finish.