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Are you after a quick and easy recipe for the holiday season? Try this chocolate shortbread cookie with lavender and thyme. This recipe features products available from the Vision Store, such as a talking food thermometer, talking kitchen scales and easy-to-see measuring jug, and a digital magnetic kitchen timer.

The shape of the cookies are up to you!

 

Lady working in a kitchen, stirring ingredients in a blue mixing bowl

 

Equipment

You can purchase these products online at our webshop or at your local Vision Store.

Click here to find your closest store.

Ingredients

  • 2 and a half cups of plain flour (375 grams)
  • Half a cup of cocoa powder (50 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
  • 300 grams of unsalted butter, chopped, softened
  • 1 cup of cast sugar (220 grams) plus 2 tablespoons extra
  • 3 egg whites
  • One third cup flowering or regular thyme sprigs
  • 3 cups of pure icing sugar, sifted (360 grams)
  • Edible dried lavender (optional – from specialty food stores) to decorate

You can purchase these ingredients from your local supermarket or specialty food store.

Instructions

Preparation

Clear measuring jug sitting on scales on a kitchen bench
  1. Use your talking kitchen scales to measure and sift the plain flour, cocoa powder, and ground ginger into a bowl. Ensure the ingredients are accurately weighed using the talking kitchen scales.
  2. In another bowl, measure the chopped and softened butter and caster sugar using your talking kitchen scales. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until it becomes thick and pale.
  3. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough into two portions. Enclose each portion of dough in plastic wrap and use your talking kitchen timer to set a reminder for 4 hours. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until it becomes firm.

Baking

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one portion of dough at a time until it's 3mm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies, re-rolling scraps as needed.
  3. Place the cut-out cookies on baking paper-lined trays. Use your digital magnetic kitchen timer to bake the cookies for 8 minutes, swapping trays halfway through, or until they are just firm.
  4. Take the cookies out of the oven using your heat-resistant gloves and allow them to cool completely on the trays.

You can check the temperature of the cookies with the talking food thermometer.

Decoration

  1. While the cookies cool, whisk three egg whites in a bowl. Use your talking kitchen scales to measure an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar and place it on a plate.
  2. Brush each cookie with the whisked egg white and then dust them with sugar. Lay the cookies on a baking paper-lined tray and use your digital magnetic kitchen timer to let them dry for 2 hours.

Glazing and Decorating

  1. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining two egg whites. Stir in the sifted icing sugar to form a thick paste. If it's too thick, you can add 1 teaspoon of water.
  2. Dip each cookie in the glaze on one side and place them on a wire rack to allow excess glaze to drip off.
  3. Decorate the glazed cookies with lavender and thyme. Set them aside for 2 hours or until the glaze sets using your digital magnetic kitchen timer.