Rosewater Shortbread Cookies

These are buttery, whole-wheat shortbread cookies – aromatic with rosewater, and flecked with toasted nuts, and dried rose petals. They’ve a crunchy dusting of sugar on high that gives a satisfying, candy tongue scratch, and are punctuated with black sesame. I am not going to lie – it took a couple of makes an attempt to nail them down. As lots of you realize – coping with floral flavors could be a bit difficult. However now, as written, they’re oh so tasty.

Shortbread Cookies: Inspiration

These little guys happened once I was tasked with bringing dessert to a buddy’s home. She was cooking a formidable Ottolenghi-inspired feast, and I believed these can be a reasonably end. With the rose petals and all. Within the years since that dinner they’ve grow to be a part of my common shortbread repertoire, and I make them usually for particular events and holidays. I imply, they’re so fairly and engaging!

Baking with Flowers

The trick with cooking or baking with florals is determining how a lot is an excessive amount of, and the way little is just too little. For instance, with this shortbread recipe, the primary couple of makes an attempt I used dried rose petals solely, and a superb quantity. However the taste received pushed round a bit, bullied and overpowered by the browning butter.

Second try? I gave the rose notes a lift by layering the petals within the dough with a splash of rose water. The dough instantly grew to become extra aromatic, balanced, and helped nail what I supposed (and hoped for) from the beginning. I recommend utilizing a little bit of warning when baking with rose water, as a result of every bottle appears to fluctuate in power, high quality, and scent. Strictly for reference, I will point out that I’ve been utilizing Nielsen-Massey Rose Water. Should you’re uncertain concerning the high quality or power of your rose water, begin with half, and style the dough. You may all the time regulate with extra from there. Belief your senses :)!

These little shortbread cookies are excellent alongside different bite-sized treats on a post-dinner sweets board. I like to interrupt up a superb bar of chocolate, embody some salted caramels, possibly a couple of dates, and many others. Or you possibly can do a cookie-only sampler, with a spread of tiny cookies. There are a variety of favourite cookie recipes to discover, or bake bigger cookies, and lower them into quarters so folks can pattern.