rosemary lemon shortbread cookies

Holy tomato! Earlier this year we planted a small herb/vegetable garden in our yard (and when I say we, I mean Corey did it and I am taking joint credit). Everything looked amazing. Fast forward a few months and the tomato plants have completely taken over. Seriously, did someone pour radioactive growth hormones on those guys?! Because of this, everything besides the tomatoes had to be replanted into other pots and flower boxes and we now have a TON of fresh herbs. In an effort to use these herbs I decided to make cookies, because cookies are always a good idea in my book. :)

These cookies are a combination of these butter cookies and these shortbread cookies. I am so glad they turned out well! I really got lucky, while cooking is an art, baking is definitely more of a science.

ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 tsps finely chopped fresh rosemary

juice from ½ a large lemon

2 tsps lemon zest

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 tps salt

1 egg white, beaten

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

directions:
in a large mixing bowl beat butter & granulated sugar on high for 2 min or until fluffy
add egg, rosemary, lemon juice & zest beat on med speed until blended
gradually add flour & salt while mixing on a slow speed
when combined half dough and shape each into a log and wrap in parchment paper (if you want round cookies transfer log to an empty paper towel roll to hold shape, I did not have any on hand - imperfect cookies are cute too though, right?)
freeze logs for 1 hour or until ready to bake

preheat oven to 375°
unwrap log, brush with egg white and roll in turbinado sugar
cut log into ¼ inch rounds & place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment
bake for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden
store in an airtight container
enjoy!

Not only are these delicious, but they feel very fancy too. Maybe I need to throw a tea party?