Elevate your cookies with edible dried flowers! These delicious, buttery Vanilla Rose Shortbread Cookies are glazed and topped with dried edible roses, for an easy, but special and romantic sweet treat.
I thought these cookies with edible flowers were particularly fitting for Valentineโs day, since they make a nice number or treats (16 beautiful cookies!), they can be made ahead and they are easily transported and shared.
Iโm sure there are lots of great ladies in your life that youโd like to gift a delicious cookie to tell them how special they are to you, right? And thereโs just something special about biting into a beautiful, buttery shortbread cookie thatโs all decked out in roses! Add a cup of tea or a bottle of wine and youโve got a lovely celebrate the lovely ladies in your life moment :)
Ingredients and Substitutions
Rose Petals โ Be sure that you use EDIBLE dried roses. These are roses that have been grown, harvested and preserved with the intention that they would be consumed, so they are free from pesticides and are treated like food. I ordered a small bag online and they showed up in my mailbox in 2 days! If you live in a larger city, you will likely find a source for edible dried flowers locally.
Recipe Tips
- If you have a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, that would be ideal for these cookies. Not only will you be able to remove them from the pan easily, you will get a lovely scalloped edge around the outside of your cookies.
- I didnโt have a 9-inch tart pan though, so I used a 9-inch round cake pan lined with a round of parchment on the bottom. It bakes up just as well, but makes it a little trickier to remove the cookies after theyโve cooled. I find that lifting out the first cookie with a fork from the thick, outside edge is the easiest way to go. Once you have the first one out, itโs a breeze after that. If it happens to break, consider it a โbakerโs sampleโ and eat it. Youโll still be able to make a nice circle of cookies even if youโre missing that one ;)
- When pressing your dough into your pan, do your best to smooth the top as much as possible, as it doesnโt level itself much as it cooks, so any bumps there now will be there later.
- Whenever you incorporate dried flowers in your baking, be sure to add them with the butter (and not the dried ingredients), as I have done here.
- As you dip your cookies to glaze, you may start to get some small bits of cookie in your glaze. Simply use a spoon to move those bits to the edges, away from where you are dipping, so you donโt get cookie bits in your glaze.
- Iโve increased the amount of glaze here, as I find that itโs much easier to dip when you start with a good amount of glaze. You donโt want to be scraping the bottom of the bowl. Thatโs not going to make pretty cookies. Having more glaze to start just avoids all that, but it does mean that you will have more than you need to glaze all these cookies. I hate to waste, but itโs only a bit of icing sugar and lemon juice. Or if you happen to have other baking that needs a dollop of something, you can use your extra that way.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send it to your inbox.ย Plus, you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Seasons and Suppers.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon edible dried roses
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt , reduce to a pinch if using salted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste well mixed with 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp water, or vanilla
- 1/4 cup edible dried roses
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter for 15-20 seconds, then add the dried roses and mix to combine. Add icing sugar vanilla and salt and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in flour just until combined.
- Press dough into a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom (or alternately, a 9-inch round cake pan, lining the bottom with a round of parchment paper.) Flatten dough with the palm of your hand to make a smooth surface. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the dough in to 16 wedges. Prick each wedge with a fork twice. Refrigerate pan with dough until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300F. (regular bake setting/not fan assisted)
- Bake cookies in preheated oven until firm and pale golden, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then, using a sharp knife, cut through the score lines you made before baking, wiping off the blade between each cut. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- Meanwhile, prepare glaze by whisking together the vanilla bean paste and water so it is well incorporated. Add to the icing sugar and stir well until smooth. Tip: Be sure to use a bowl that will allow you to dip the cookies in flat from end to end, so it should be at least 5-inches wide. That said, don't use too big a bowl or your glaze will be too thin a layer and you may bottom-out when you dip).
- Prepare your dried roses by taking about half of them and breaking them into smaller bits with your fingers. Keep separate from your larger dried rose pieces and set aside.
- Remove cookies from pan to a rack. Holding a cookie by the sides, dip the top of the cookie into the glaze to coat. Hold point side down and allow the excess to drip off. Gently remove any drip at the point end by running it along the edge of the bowl. Place on to rack. Once you've done about 4 wedges, sprinkle those ones with some of the edible roses before the glaze sets to much that they won't stick. I like to sprinkle a bit of the smaller stuff first, sprinkling over the outer 2/3 of the wedge (leaving the narrow end clear). Then sprinkle some of the larger pieces at the wide end. Repeat until you have glazed and sprinkled all the cookies.
- Allow to stand until the glaze is set, about 1 hour. Store in a flat even layer in an airtight container. These keep well stored at room temperature for about a week. These would also freeze well!
Notes
Hi! Iโm Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Found this recipe and made a practice run before adding it to my Tea Party menu. I always have to do this for fear they will fail and I will panic.
But they turned out beautiful . So pretty and elegant . They will be on my tiered serving tray for sure.
Thanks for this recipe๐ท๐ฅ๐บ๐๐ซ
Pamela
I’m so glad to hear, Pamela! They’ll be perfect for your tea. Thanks so much :)
These are stunning! Does the glaze set well enough to seal and mail the cookies without it getting messy?
Hi Amanda, the glaze sets up very well, so it shouldn’t be messy. That said, the glaze only goes on the top, so it doesn’t really “seal” the cookie, per se.
Made these for my coworkers and they absolutely loved them. Definitely making this recipe all spring :)
So glad to hear, Tina :) Thanks so much!
Such a beautiful dessert! I have accomplished creating your Lemon Pistachio cookie recipe, and love them. Now I am looking forward to trying this one. All I need to do is find edible roses :)
Glad you are enjoying these, Annette :) Thanks! I bought my edible roses online. Easy and not expensive.
So beautiful! The glaze and edible roses make such a pretty topping!
Thanks Laura :)
These look lovely! When you say “or vanilla” (in place of vanilla bean paste) do you mean vanilla extract?
Hi Marilee, Yes, I did mean vanilla extract here :)
These are beautiful! I love how you made them into a triangle shape – they look perfect for tea!
Thanks so much, Katherine :)