Essential Oil Glazed Shortbread Cookies

The holidays are coming and it’s time to get baking!  Every year I enjoy getting my arms elbow deep in flour and powdered sugar and butter to make treats for our dear friends that live both near and far.  Here in the Watters household we feel a baked goods spell “love” so we tend to go a bit overboard making goodies both savory and sweet to give as little holiday gifts throughout the festive seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  As i’ve been slowly growing my essential oil pantry in our kitchen, I decided it was time to incorporate a few of my oils into my favorite glazed shortbread cookie recipe.

Why use essential oils in cooking or baking?  Essential oils are more potent than dried and fresh herbs and contain compounds that can balance and restore our bodies.  Unlike dried herbs which lose a majority of their healing nutrients during the drying process, therapeutic-grade (not aromatherapy grade, there is a significant difference between the two) oils do not.  Oils from Young Living are safe for cooking and dietary supplementation because they have a chemical structure similar to human cells and tissues, thereby making them compatible with human protein.  When consumed, Young Living oils are readily identified and accepted by the body.

Not only are these shortbread cookies fairly simple to prepare, but they are extremely versatile when it comes to the essential oil you can use in the recipe.  A simple substitution can make these cookies completely different.  I think a lavender cookie with lemon icing sounds divine, don’t you?  In keeping with the holiday season we made our shortbread gingerbread cookies with Nutmeg Oil, Rosemary Oil, and Orange Oil.   Below you can find a list of other oils that would be perfect flavors substitutions, whether it be for the cookie itself or for the icing glaze.  It is important to know these oils are very, very concentrated and a little goes a long way.  I have found that my herbal oils (like Rosemary Oil and Sage Oil) are extremely strong, as are most herbaceous oil so keep that in mind. Yyou may want to put even a half of a drop into a recipe and test it before adding more.

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

1 cup (two sticks) of unsalted butter room temperature

1/2 cup of powered sugar

3 drops of Nutmeg Oil or 2 drops of Rosemary Oil 

To prepare, in a separate bowl whisk the flour with the sea salt.  Set this aside and in the bowl of your mixer (or with your handheld mixer) beat the butter until smooth for about one minute.  Add the sugar and beat until smooth for about two minutes.  Beat in the oil of your choice, any good vegetable oil will do the trick.  Gently stir the flour mixture just until incorporated.  Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic, and chill the dough for at least an hour or until firm.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle of the oven and then go ahead and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out into a 1/4 to 1/2 inch circle.  Using your cookie cutter, cut your shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter.  Place on the prepared baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about fifteen to twenty minutes.  Do not skip this step, this will firm up the cookies so they will maintain their shape when cooking.  Bake your cookies from ten to fifteen minutes or until they are light golden brown and cool on a wire rack.

1 cup of powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of water

2 drops of Orange Oil

To prepare, mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.  once your cookies have cooled on your drying rack, use your whisk to drizzle the orange glaze over your cookies.  The messier the better! Enjoy with warm milk.