Dreamy, crumbly, melt in your mouth… these vanilla rose shortbread cookies are to die for. You’ll feel like you’re at a fancy high tea when you eat them, they are that decadent. I’ll confess I’ve never been much of a sweet tooth, hence why this is only my second dessert recipe. But these shortbread cookies are possibly my new favourite thing. Make these for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, for a wedding, a birthday, you name it. Did I mention they are also drizzled with a white chocolate ganache? Seriously you will be addicted.
These cookies remind me of when I used to bake as a kid. I was obsessed with baking and decorating cupcakes, I had all the funky piping bag tips, and I actually got pretty good. One of my favourite ingredients to use was rosewater. If you’ve never had it before, rosewater is what gives Turkish delights their signature flavour. Rose and vanilla cupcakes were one of my favourites to make, so today’s recipe is kind of an homage to that.
The process:
We begin by making the dough. It’s really simple, just combine all the ingredients and mix. I actually like to mix it with my hands… it leaves fewer dishes to wash up and you can combine the butter really well with your fingers. Then just roll it out using a rolling pin or a bottle, whatever you have on hand, and cut into funky shapes. I only had a star cutter so I used the edge of a glass to create some round cookies as well. If you’re super dextrous you could even free-hand them… but that’s definitely not my forte.
Now we pop them in the oven for about half an hour and move on to the ganache. I’ve made a lot of ganache in my time, having worked in a bakery for 5 years. Now my way is definitely not how the pro’s do it… but it’s easy and relatively foolproof. All I do is microwave the white chocolate chips with some cream and until they have melted together. But remember the chocolate will melt very quickly, so only microwave in 10-second intervals. When it’s done, stir through a splash of rosewater.
When the cookies are out of the oven and cooled down a bit, drizzle on some ganache, sprinkle over some icing sugar and you’re done!
I like to enjoy these vanilla rose shortbread cookies with a hot cup of tea as I watch the sunset. Be sure to store your leftovers (if any) in an air-tight container.
If you’re more of a milk or dark chocolate person, give my double choc raspberry brownies a try!
If you give these vanilla rose shortbread cookies a try, let me know in the comments!
SWEET VANILLA ROSE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy15
cookies25
minutes35
minutes1
hourSoft, melt in your mouth biscuits with a hint of rose.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup rice flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup softened butter
2 tsps rose water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup thickened cream
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add the rose water, vanilla and butter and mix together – I use my hands but an electric beater works too.
- Flour your benchtop and start kneading the dough until it becomes smooth, only takes a few minutes.
- Roll out to about a 1cm thickness, and using cookie cutters or just a glass, cut out as many cookies as you can.
- Place on a baking tray in the oven at 180 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.
- Ganache
- In a microwave-safe bowl add the white chocolate chips and the cream. Microwave for 10-second intervals stirring after each one until the chocolate is just melted. Stir through a small splash of rose water.
- When the cookies are done, let them cool before icing.
