Lavender tea time cookies

I am beginning to dream of my garden.

*FLOWERS * VEGGIES * HERBS

One of my favorite herbs is LAVENDER.  I love it's clean scent, and the flowers are divine in the herb garden as well as landscape!

Today I am going to show you how to make sweet little tea cookies enhanced with culinary lavender and a simple royal icing treatment -perfect for a formal tea party OR a quiet afternoon spent alone with spring seed catalogs!

To begin, I made a regular sugar cookie dough.  After I had rolled and cut out the shapes, I gently sprinkled the tops with dried lavender.  Fortunately, I don't have to purchase edible lavender buds because I had harvested it from my herb garden and then dried it.  

If you have never grown it, I encourage you to give it a try.  It is extremely easy to grow, has a long bloom time, and requires next to no care.

I could have added it into my dough when mixing, but I didn't for two reasons.  One, I wanted to go very sparingly because lavender can easily overwhelm in flavor - a little goes a very long way!  Two, I wanted to see it on the top so it would give my cookies a textured background for the icing treatment.  

After baking and cooling, I gave each cookie a quick spritz of food coloring spray.

See the little flecks of lavender?

I did half in purple, and half in pink.

I didn't spray the entire cookie, only a diagonal spray across the center.  A quick tip about food color sprays:  try it on some paper before the cookie, because it has a tendency to shoot out some big blobs on the initial spray.

I made four different colors of icing -

LIGHT PURPLE  DARK PURPLE   GREEN   PINK

I used the green first to make the straight lines of the stems.  The first stems go from a center point up the cookie.

And then then go from the center point down the cookie.

See the blobs of color spray?  You wouldn't want that on your cookie!

Now you are just going to start adding dots of the two shades of purple.  

I used two shades because it gives the design more interest and depth.

Now with the pink icing, you make a simple ribbon - two loops, two  flowing lines, and a dot for the knot (hey, that rhymed!).

And there you have it!  

When you deconstruct a design into lines and shapes, it make the execution less intimidating.  You can make lines and dots, right?

I believe it is time for afternoon tea and dreams of spring!

I can't wait to show you what Mr. Enchanted just built me for starting seeds!  I will be posting it soon  :)

Sharing with
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A Mad Tea Party

Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist

 Oh my, did I ever have fun making cookies for

I went into the garden and gathered some of my prettiest flowers,

gathered tea cookies,

and invited a rather persnickety guest.

She loved the chocolate sugar cookies,

and didn't even mind that I served hot chocolate instead of tea.

Flowers, mushrooms, and hearts make a plate of cookies quite pretty!

My new favorite cookie decorating technique is painting them with food coloring.

Magical colors 

with a whimsical touch

and gifts from the garden

make for an ENCHANTING

Please stop by A Fanciful Twist to see Vannessa's always delightful tea party and visit the other wonderful participants!

Come by The Enchanted Acorn Studio blog for more party fun and a giveaway.

Also sharing with
A Stroll Thru Life

Little tea time cookies

I ran  across some adorable cookie cutters the other day, and couldn't wait to try them out.  It was a  European set that had a cut out just the right size to hook on the side of a cup or glass.  Like I said, ADORABLE.  Now admittedly, I am much more of a coffee drinker and when I do have tea it is generally something for good health like tulsi or a medicinal herbal blend.  I don't drink them for pleasure because most of them taste  like boiled athletic socks.

  I suffer for my health.

BUT, I found a tea that looked tasty

as well as a spiffy new apple green tea kettle.

I baked my tiny cookies, made some tea with a splash of milk and stevia (still on the sugar fast), gathered some rose hips and a tiny fig,  and perched the little cookie charmers on the rim of the tea cups.  Then I  stood back to admire the cute factor.

Darn cute I say.  Unfortunately, I didn't eat the cookies - once again, the stinkin no sugar thing.  Sigh.  They went to Mr. Enchanted and the Enchanted offspring.

It WAS a lovely tea, however, and didn't taste one bit like boiled socks.Pin It




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Witch's Tea Party

It is time for lovely Anna's tea party!  This magical event is found at Frosted Petunias and I hope to visit each and every party over the weekend because it promises to be the perfect celebration for the halloween season!


The first thing required at my party is decorations, so I glittered the word BOO and hung it by crystal chandelier chains over an antique mirror.

Then I prepared a special treat:  vanilla butter pound cakes.  They are rich, dense, and oh so moist!  I will share the recipe with you later this week.

Trust me when I say this is one recipe that you don't want to miss out on!

Now I need to say my special incantation to make tonight's beverage.

Mmmmmm, glowing apple cider.

I just need to get my costume ready before the festivities begin.

I hope no one disturbs the table before my guests arrive.

Hey, get your hand away from the candy before the party starts!  She tried to get my pink turtle cookies earlier this week.  Better keep an eye on this chick - she was NOT on the party list. 

I invited some "interesting" members of my family,

along with some dear friends.

I told everyone to bring along their black kitties - it is a plus one invite.

My kitties Ya Ya, Claude Monet, and Nugzie will be there for sure! 

And what would a party be without some hot guys.  I am expecting Vlad, Frankie, and Jack.

I also have plenty of free parking for brooms.

I got out my best set of tea cups and so everyone can choose their own.

I also thought we could carve pumpkins.

I have been watching Halloween Wars on the Food Network and feel inspired to try something more challenging for this year's pumpkin.

I think we will do the pumpkins outside in the garden - it is so beautiful this time of year.

I will put candles in the trees.

And light a fire to keep everyone warm.

I hope the ghosts don't show up this year.  They are one rowdy bunch, and hard to get rid of.

I see that some of my INVITED guests have arrived.

They like to giggle and tell secrets.

Sometimes one of them brings a crystal ball and they tell fortunes. 

It looks like the ladies have spotted the guys - or is it something else?

This crew is a little early - they can come back on November first.

I hope you enjoyed my Witch's tea party and I would love to have you stop back often!  Wishing you a magical halloween from the enchanted oven and friends.

IF YOU LIKE MY PARTY Pin It

Also linking with
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