Pansy Shortbread Cookies

Don't you love having creative friends? At a recent bridal shower at StoneGable the mother-of-the-bride brought a plate of fabulous pansy cookies to share. Of course I thought they were the prettiest cookies I had ever seen! Everyone ooooohhhed and aaaaaaahhhhed over them. And not only were they beautiful to look at... they were wonderfully delicious too!

I just had to try to make them myself. Shortbread cookies are quite easy to make and fixing the pansy on top was and fun. Very impressive for the little work they take. They taste buttery and sweet, and the pansies have no taste to interfere with the lovely shortbread flavor.  I would have to call this a WOW factor dessert.

I hope you will try these little bites of nature.

Pansy Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 TBS dried egg whites

2TBS  water

Pesticide free Pansies or violas

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pick flowers, rinse and pat dry. Put on paper towel to finish air drying.

Put flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix together. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter and vanilla until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling together.

 Gather up crumbs into a ball and kneed together until smooth.

 Roll out dough just scant of 1/4" thick. Cut with cookie cutter. I used a fluted  2 1/2"cookie cutter.

Put cookies 2" apart on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until the bottom and sides are just starting to slightly brown and center of top is firm.

Take out of oven and cool on baking sheet. 

Combine dried egg whites and water in small bowl. When cookies are cooled brush egg white mixture on one cookie at a time and top with pansey. Use your fingers to press the pansy down in the middle and smooth out all petals so they are firmly stuck to the cookie. Put a thin layer of egg white mixtrue on top of the pansy and smooth. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Return to parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. With your finger smooth out any petals that have shrivelled up. Set out on a cooling rack until the top of the cookie is completely dry.

Plate and enjoy!

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