Lavender Shortbread Dinosaur Cookies

Yield

1 sheet

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus ~2 tbsp
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lavender
• baking/candy eyes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream the butter until soft in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. Add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until incorporated.
4. Stir together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix at low speed just until the ingredients are almost incorporated. Then add the lavender, and mix until the dough starts to come together.
6. Flour a work surface, turn the dough onto it, and knead it 5 to 10 times to bring the dough together and smooth it out.
7. Reflour the work surface. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4-inch thick.
8. Cut the dough into dinosaur shapes using cookie cutters.
9. With the cookie cutters still on, use a spatula to transfer the shapes onto the baking sheet to minimize the risk of appendage loss, and then carefully lift off the cookie cutters.
10. Sprinkle the surface evenly with 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar.
11. Bake for 15 minutes.
12. Deflate the dough by knocking the pan once against the oven rack, and then rotate the pan to ensure even cooking and a flat surface.
13. Bake for about 5 minutes more, and then take out the pan for a moment to apply eyes to the dinosaurs.
14. Bake 5 to 10 minutes more, until golden all over and very lightly browned.
15. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar, and apply the baking eyes.
16. Let cool for about 5 minutes, and then enjoy.