Rosemary shortbread cookies

Last Thursday, I went to a demonstration at the Palatine Library on cooking with herbs, run by Dave from Dave's Specialty Foods in Mount Prospect. He gave us some awesome recipes, cooking tips, and samples, including mango salsa, horseradish dill potato salad, and rosemary shortbread cookies. All of the samples were delicious, but the cookies really blew my mind.

I'll reproduce the recipe here in full, since he gave it out in handouts at the library:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 lb. butter, cut in small cubes, cold
• 4 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tbsp. rosemary, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Using hands, combine all ingredients in mixing bowl, except vanilla. Mix slowly to incorporate butter. When mixture looks grainy, add vanilla. Mix just until mixture comes together.
   
2. Gather and roll dough into sausage shape. Wrap dough and place in refrigerator until chilled. (You can freeze the dough at this stage.)
   
3. After chilling, remove wrap and cut into disks that are 1/4 inch wide. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until olden brown. Do not overcook.

Then you have amazing, rosemary-flecked cookies like these.


These are one of my new favorite cookies. The rosemary added such an interesting, savory-sweet taste to the cookies, and the shortbread is nice and buttery. Looks like I have a use for some of the rosemary I just planted in my herb garden!