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The sweetest Lemon Rose Shortbread Cookies. Lightly sweetened, buttery shortbread cookies hinted with lemon and vanilla, and finished generously with a sweet lemony glaze. These are easy, fun, so pretty, and so very delicious! The loveliest (most romantic) cookies to bake up any time this month.
Question…what’s your take on Valentine’s Day?
Do you want my honest, bah humbug opinion? I think it’s simply a made up holiday that some genius created to make an extra buck or two on romantic cards, fancy jewelry, and chocolates. Yes, those are my thoughts. Probably because that’s been my dad’s mantra ever since I was a little girl.
I know, I know. So depressing, right? I guess that’s kind of life growing up with all boys (1 dad, 5 brothers). However, on a more positive note, my dad did always follow that comment with kind of a sweet one. He said, you need to show someone you love them in little ways every day. Not just on the one day that’s become commercially synonymous with love.
All that said, I still have an appreciation for Valentine’s Day, just like most every other girl out there. I love more the concept of Valentine’s Day. The flowers, chocolates, and sweets in general, that are such a huge part of the day. And I respect that it celebrates love of all kinds. Meaning, if you’re single, you should still embrace V-day! My grandma was my one shining knight when it came to Valentine’s Day. No matter how far apart we were, she’d always send my mom and I some kind of v-day gift. Most often it was a cute card, some chocolates, and a fun stuffed animal. Nothing big by any means, but she always made Valentine’s Day fun.
Since my grandma passed, I want to carry on that tradition with my little sister, Asher. She never got to experience very many of those sweet cards and gifts. So this year I’m baking cookies, and on the hunt for the best cheesy Hallmark stuffed animal I can find. If you have ideas for me, let me know!
While I might still be on the hunt for the perfect stuffed animal, I have the cookie part all figured out.
Enter these dainty, romantic, lemony, shortbread cookies, that are truly just as precious and delicious as they look. Normally, I’m all about chocolate desserts. But as I slowly started to envision these cookies in my head, I knew they’d be cookies that I would come to love. Both for their pretty looks and their buttery sweet deliciousness.
Like any other shortbread style cookie, these are really, really simple.
You need just five simple ingredients, butter, sugar, lemon, vanilla, and flour. If you want to be on the fancier side, some dried rose petals and a blood orange are great additions. But they’re completely optional…though very delicious.
Creaming together the butter, lemon, and roses (if you’re using) is the key to a good shortbread cookie. You want the butter to be light and fluffy, and both the lemon and rose petals to infuse the butter. This process takes a minute or two. But then all that’s left to do is add the flour, roll the cookies, chill, and bake.
Honestly, these are some of the simplest cookies, but yet still so delicious.
Oh and my other trick? Salted butter. I’ve always used salted butter. It’s what my mom baked with when I was growing up. The extra touch of salt is especially delicious when making extra buttery cookies. I know it may not be traditional, but trust me, it’s what you should use.
For the glaze, I did a simple Meyer lemon glaze. I colored it with a couple drops of blood orange juice, which gave the glaze the daintiest pink color, exactly what I wanted. With food coloring you tend to end up with these unnatural neon like colors. But the blood orange juice works so perfectly to create a light shade of pink.
To decorate, I actually just shredded real roses. Yes, roses are edible, but make sure to use orange roses or culinary roses. Just cut using a sharp knife and sprinkle them over the cookies. Like I’ve said before, flowers are my “sprinkle” of choice.
These are obviously great for Valentine’s Day, but honestly? I’ll be making them year-round. I already have plans to recreate them for my brother’s wedding this September. The sister-in-law to be has already put in her request. Can’t blame her, these do kind of scream “wedding cookies”.
Good news for me? These cookies are so easy. Good news for everyone else? They’re delicious, and well…oh so lovely!
If you make these lemon rose shortbread cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Do you have a gluten free flour recommendation for these? Or would they fall apart?
HI Landis! I have never made this with GF flour so I can’t really say how it will turn out. If
you do try it, I recommend Cup4Cup flour. Please let me know if you have any other questions and how it turns out. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Will be my go-to cookie recipe now! Made them without the rose or the blood orange, and cookies themselves are a great texture and flavor. Added lemon zest to the glaze. I’ve glazed a couple things before, but never thought to dip the tops in the bowl of glaze. Always would drizzle but it would look messy and make a mess. The dipping make the cookies look so clean and pretty. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much Olivia! I am so glad these turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I guess this is a recipe that I need to save. My brother took one bite and said they were amazing. I really enjoy them too. One thing I did was reduce the amount of powdered sugar for the icing, I made about 22 cookies(I had extra dough that I froze) and that was enough for them.
Hi Amber! I am so glad you both loved these cookies! Thank you so much! xTieghan
I made these cookies yesterday. I followed the instructions exactly. They turned out beautifully and are delicious. I plan to make another batch before Valentine’s Day!
I am so glad you loved these Erin! Thank you so much! xTieghan
I let my butter come to room temperature but my dough never really formed a ball and are proving very difficult to roll out. Any tips for dough that seems too dry? Love how these came out for you! xoxo
Hi Natalie! I would add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the dough. This should bring it together for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe and I really hope this helps! Thank you! xTieghan
Hey there, love your recipes!!!! Cannot wait to make these!
If I forgot salted butter, could I use unsalted and add salt to the recipe?
Thanks!
MG
Sure! I recommend 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
These are the prettiest cookies and so perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Thank you Laura! xTieghan
Hello. These are so beautiful. I want to make them but am wondering where to get that type of rose that would be organic and edible? I’m in Eugene, Oregon. Are the roses fresh or dried when you cut them and put them on the cookies? thank you!
HI! I like to use dried cookies in the cookie dough, but for decorating I like to use fresh roses. You can find organic roses at Whole Foods. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I can’t wait to make these for my cookie exchange next week!!!
YES! I hope they turn out amazing and everyone loves them, Devvon! Thank you so much!
So beautiful! Would it work to use dried lavender instead of rose? Thanks!
These look so beautiful- would it work the same way to use dried lavender instead of rose? Thanks!
HI! Yes, dried lavender will be awesome! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Beautiful cookies! Where is the scalloped heart cookie cutter from ? It’s an unusual shape. Thank you!
Hi Rhonda! I got them on Amazon, and I will leave the link below! They’re also linked in the shop page on my site!
https://rstyle.me/n/dfm5x4b9wzf
any tips on how to dip the cookies without dropping them in the glaze?
Hi Laura! I just hold the outer edges of the cookie with my fingers, invert it into the glaze and then let the excess drip of before flipping it back over. You can also drizzle the glaze over the cookies as well! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
These are the most gorgeous cookies I have ever seen!
You’re too sweet! Thank you so much Cassie!
they look so pretty, so delicate!!
Thank you Ruth!