Beautiful calming lavender, the scent is so distinctive, even the bees can’t resist it. I have a huge lavender bush in my small front garden. It has grown so much in the last 3 years. I just love how natural it is and how much the bees adore it. This is my first time baking with its pretty purple buds and it won’t be my last.
These shortbread biscuits are delicious, yes they taste floral but thats the point. If you are not swayed by the lavender just use the zest of a full lemon or orange in its place.
We hope you try them, they are the perfect tea time sweet treat. Browse our baking aisle for the organic dry ingredients.
Lou 🙂
Ingredients: Makes 18
175g soft vegan butter
2 tbsp fresh, unsprayed, finely chopped lavender flowers (pick them off the stems to measure)
Step 1: Line an 8in x 8in baking tin with parchment paper.
Step 2: Beat the butter and lavender together first to get the best flavour from the lavender. Beat in the sugar then mix in the flour to form a dough ball.
Step 3: Gently press the dough into the prepared tin, use an extra square of parchment paper to smooth out the dough with your hands, get it right into the corners. Remove the extra parchment paper and discard.
Step 4: Use a butter knife to mark the dough into 18 biscuits, cutting right to the bottom of the tin, see the photos. Prick with a fork and sprinkle with brown sugar. Put the tin in the fridge to firm up for 1 hour.
Step 5: Preheat the oven 170ºC. Bake the shortbread for 20-25 minutes until pale brown.
Let them cool completely then cut again along the lines to separate and enjoy with big mugs of tea.
Quick, dairy free, vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, kid approved, only 3 ingredients and very tasty! You need to try these cookies.
My kids are alway hungry and I like to have snacks on hand that have a bit of goodness in them. Almonds are a superfood and while my kids wont eat whole almonds they will happy munch on these cookies instead.
They may not look perfect but for a quick bake they hit the spot. They are crispy on the outside soft in the middle. If you’re feeling extra fancy drizzle some melted chocolate on top.
Step 1: Preheat the oven 170ºC. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Step 2: Melt the coconut oil in the microwave or in a small pot and stir in the maple syrup.
Step 3: Mix the coconut and maple into the ground almonds and work into a dough. Use your hands to form 10 small balls put them on the baking tray 1.5 inch apart.
Step 4: Use a fork to push the balls down and make a crisscross on the top of each cookie.
Step 5: Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
I honesty don’t remember any special Easter baking recipes from my childhood in Tipperary. As kids we were too consumed with the thoughts of getting an easter egg to think about what was being baked. My mother would usually bake her famous apple tart and a giant pavlova to have on Easter Sunday after dinner.
I was much older when I learned about hot cross buns at Easter time. They have been baked for centuries across Europe to symbolise the Christianity and Jesus on the cross.
This is a twist on the cinnamon and yeast bun. It’s a lot quicker to make and like the bun uses spice, dried fruit, orange zest and of course the signature cross too.
Preheat the oven 180ºc. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
To a mixing bowl add the butter and beat for a minute to soften it, use an electric beater or wooden spoon.
Add in the sugar and beat for a further few minutes and then beat in the eggs.
Pour in the oats next and sieve in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice stir in the chopped date and orange zest.
Stir and mix all the ingredients together until a large dough forms.
Scoop or spoon onto the baking tray, push down to form round cookie shapes.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until nice and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the icing mix the icing sugar with 2 teaspoons of boiling water until you have a thick paste. Transfer to a piping bag or a zip lock bag leave to cool for 5 minutes then snip off the corner and pipe a cross onto the cooled cookies.
Oatmeal cookies make the house smell amazing (cinnamon, vanilla and oats, what a dreamy combo) and the kids adore them after school with a glass of oat milk. Ok, so they are not the healthiest snack, but the oats do make them slightly more wholesome than a regular chocolate chip cookie. We keep them vegan with our Naturli butter blocks and oat milk, but of course you can use your favourite butter (or even an odourless coconut oil at a pinch) and milk. These are a little crisp around the edges and perfectly chewy in the middle. Enjoy!
Liz x
Ingredients (make 12 large or 16 medium cookies)
150g butter, cubed and at room temperature
150g soft brown sugar
100g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp milk
200g porridge oats
50g raisins
Method
Turn your oven on to 180C and find some large baking sheets – line with baking parchment.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk (or give your arm a workout and use a wooden spoon) – it should get light and fluffy.
Then add the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix well. Stir through the flour until it forms a rough, sticky dough, careful not to over-mix the flour. Lastly, stir in the oats and raisins.
Use an ice-cream scoop or wet hands to form even balls. Space out on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the balls have spread into cookies and are just taking on some colour around the edges. Leave the cookies to cool and set on the trays before moving as they will still be very soft at this stage.
Store in an airtight container and enjoy within a week.
These are indulgent. That classic soft-in-the-middle, chewy-round-the-edges, outrageously decadent and incredibly moreish cookie that you just have to have sometimes! Perfect still warm with an ice cold glass oforganic oat milk. Make them classic with chocolate chunks or play around with the flavours. I love switching out the chocolate for spicy slivers of stem ginger. My kids favourite version is white chocolate and raspberry (freeze dried raspberries work best for this although little swirls of raspberry jam don’t go amiss). I sometimes get the Rude Health Strawberry and raspberry granola when I’m not making my own, and stir through some of that for some added crunch and flavour. My husband can’t resist adding a big scoop of peanut butter to the dough when he makes this recipe. Peanut butter and chocolate might just be an unbeatable combination.
What’s your favourite flavour of cookie? Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below.
Cream the butter, sugars and vanilla together with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl until it’s light and fluffy. Alternatively you could use an electric stand mixer with the ‘K’ attachment.
Then stir in:
250g plain flour (I love using this spelt flour for biscuits and cookies)
Mix the dry ingredients together to ensure even distribution of the raising agents, then stir them through the creamed mixture in the bowl. Don’t over-mix, stop when the mixture is shaggy.
Then fold in:
200g chocolate (chocolate drops or a chopped up bar both work fine)
Gently fold in the chocolate and milk. I like to keep it dairy free so use a dark chocolate and oat milk. The mixture should come together into a perfect cookie dough. Preheat the oven to 175C.
Scoop and bake:
Scoop out 12 equal lumps of dough onto two lined baking sheets. We sell a brilliant compostable baking paper (or invest in some reusable baking sheets). Ensure each lump of dough has enough space to spread out. Then bake in a hot oven for just 8 minutes or until the cookies have spread out and are just starting to colour around the edges.
Allow them to cool slightly before moving them onto a plate or cooling rack to cool completely. If you try to move them too early they will be too soft and are likely to break. Once they are completely cool you can store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days…as if they will last that long!
If you don’t want to cook all twelve cookies at once, you can refrigerate the dough in one big lump. Or better yet, divide it up and freeze it on a tray. Once the lumps of dough are frozen solid you can tip them into a box or bag in the freezer and take them out a few at a time whenever you have the urge for a freshly baked cookie. Bake them from frozen and just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.
