This white chocolate lavender shortbread is a perfect slice-and-bake cookie — light yet rich and buttery, with a delicate floral note. A lovely choice for spring.
New favorite cookie alert!
These are not your everyday comfort cookies. They’re a refined treat you can serve with tea or a cocktail — elegant, springlike, and just a little bougie.
Buttery, tender and lightly floral, this white chocolate lavender shortbread feels both dreamy and effortless. It’s a refreshing contrast to warm, caramel-forward brown-butter cookies — more vanilla-y and bright than toasty.
The dough is adapted from a shortbread base I love, but for this version I skip browning the butter to keep the flavor lighter and the process quicker. The result is delicate shortbread studded with white chocolate and flecked with lavender.
First: the lavender
I use dried culinary lavender. You can sometimes find it at specialty grocery stores, or buy it online. Dried lavender gives the cookies subtle texture and pretty, tiny specks of floral flavor. If you prefer, you can substitute lavender extract, but you don’t need both.
Next: white chocolate. Choose a good-quality white chocolate bar, chop it into chunks and fold it into the dough so you get melty pockets through the shortbread.
Cold butter is essential — it helps the dough hold its shape for slicing. Combine the sugars, butter and vanilla, then stir in flour and white chocolate. The dough can seem crumbly at first; if it won’t come together, a few extra drops of vanilla extract help bind it while adding flavor.
These cookies are light and slightly crunchy at the edges, with a soft, buttery center. The lavender and vanilla pairing is subtle and welcoming — floral without being perfumy — a flavor combination that feels like an old-fashioned ice cream shop in the best way.
In a word: special.
That stack looks irresistible.
I love the coarse sugar on the edges — it gives a delightful crunchy texture that contrasts with the tender interior.
White Chocolate Lavender Shortbread
White Chocolate Lavender Shortbread
20 cookies
30 mins
2 hrs
2 hrs 30 mins
Ingredients
- ½ cup loosely packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried culinary lavender
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, plus more if needed
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped
- 1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water (for egg wash)
- Coarse sugar for rolling
- Flaked salt, for topping
Instructions
- Stir together the brown and granulated sugars with the dried lavender. You can do this ahead of time so the lavender flavors the sugar.
- Place the cold butter in a stand mixer and beat on medium. Add the lavender sugar and beat until combined, about 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Beat in the flour until just combined. If the dough remains crumbly, add a few drops of vanilla extract and mix to bring it together. Fold in the chopped white chocolate.
- Divide the dough into two pieces and form each into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour about ½ cup coarse sugar onto a plate.
- When chilled, unwrap a log and brush with the egg wash (egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water). Roll the log in coarse sugar to coat.
- Slice the log into ½-inch rounds. If white chocolate pieces break the dough, gently press them back together. Place rounds about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are slightly golden. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaked salt. Cool completely before serving.
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OMG chomp.