Lemon Verbena Sablés

I felt like I'm on a roll after my success with my Vanilla Bean Sablés so I thought why not use my lemon verbena bounty for another variety? Think about adding some freshness to the rich buttery cookies- I think it will be just as awesome! I know that the days of my lemon verbena are numbered so I might as well put it to use.

Lemon Verbena Sablés

Ingredients:

18-20 fresh lemon verbena leaves – rinsed and patted dry with paper towels

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

a pinch of fine sea salt

1 tsp lemon essence or extract

1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 large egg yolks

2 cups all-purpose flour

green sanding sugar

Procedures:

Process the lemon verbena leaves and granulated sugar in a Magic Bullet or food processor, set aside

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix the butter on low speed until smooth and creamy (you don’t want it to get light and fluffy), about 1 minute; mix in the salt. Add the lemon verbena sugar and the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth, about 1 minute.

Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add 1„ egg yolk and lemon extract and mix for 1 minute. Still on low speed, mix in the flour just until blended; the dough will be soft.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it gently a few times. Divide it in half and shape each half into a 9-inch log. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3„ hours.

Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking liners.

Sprinkle about 1/2 cup sanding sugar onto a piece of waxed paper. Combine the remaining egg yolk with a splash of water in a small bowl and whisk with a fork. Brush each log with the egg wash and roll it in the sanding sugar until evenly coated. I did not twist the ends of the parchment paper so the ends are not ragged but trim if they are.

Using a knife, cut the dough into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Put them on the baking sheets, leaving about 2-„inches between rounds.

Bake the cookies, rotating and swapping the baking sheets’ positions halfway through, until the cookies are brown around the edges and golden on the bottom, 16„ to 20 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 5„ minutes; then carefully transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before serving.

The verdict:

This is going to be my favorite butter cookies recipe. The cookies are so delicious they quickly disappeared.