Rosemary Infused Sweet Shortbread

This very unusual, but super yummy recipe was the first one my mum, my sis and I made after several years of not making christmas cookies together. We all were a little sceptical at first due to the combination of sweet and savoury flavours, but the end result convinced us all! What a great, easy and very, very yummy cookie recipe! The original comes from the cookie spread 2009 of a leading German women's mag, called "Brigitte". I hope youll enjoy it as much as we did!

• Ready In: 1 hr 16 mins
• Yields: 30-40 cookies (pieces)

Ingredients

• 2  sprigs fresh rosemary
• 250  g butter (no subs)
• 1  teaspoon salt (sea salt in the original recipe)
• 1⁄2 lemon, organic, zest of (optional)
• 300  g  spelt flour
• 150  g  organic  unbleached cane sugar

Directions

1. Rinse rosemary and shake dry. Heat butter and salt in a small pot over medium heat, add rosemary. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.
2. Strain the liquid butter through a sieve and put it into the frigde to solidify again. (if youd like to have an even stronger rosemary flavour, leave it in the butter for 1 hour and strain butter then.).
3. Combine flour, lemon zest (if using) and 120 g sugar in a big bowl. Add rosemary infused butter in small pieces and knead into a smooth dough.
4. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 cm approximately (0.2 inch) and let rest for 30 minutes in a cool place.
5. Prick with a fork and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/375°F on a lower rack for about 12-16 minutes or until slightly golden.
7. Let cool and break into pieces when completely cooled. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.