Give the classic chocolate chip cookie a floral twist with the addition of culinary-grade lavender! I use ground and whole lavender right in the lavender chocolate chip cookie dough to make a lightly floral cookie perfect at a tea party or book club (just like my iced lavender London fogs and lemon lavender macarons). Two teaspoons of lavender is just the right amount to give these lavender cookies a distinctively floral flavor without being soapy!
The best part of these lavender cookies is that you can use your favorite chocolate—they don’t have to be lavender white chocolate chip cookies if you don’t want them to be! Different kinds of chocolate will bring out different flavors in the lavender, and it’s really fun to compare white, dark, and milk chocolate versions of these lavender cookies with a group of friends.
And as bonus, the lavender flavor deepens slightly after one day, so these floral chocolate chip cookies are perfect to make a day or two in advance.
One reader, Mandy, commented, “These cookies were so yummy and easy to make. I shared them with a group of ladies and everyone absolutely loved them! The lavender is present, but not overwhelming, and the cookies bake up nice and soft with crispy edges. So good!” ★★★★★
This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for helping to support The Floral Apron!
Ingredients for Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies
The recipe for these lavender cookies is essentially my dark chocolate chunk cookie recipe with two teaspoons of lavender! A little bit of lavender goes a long way in these cookies to give you a floral hint without being overpowering. The end result is a pleasantly sweet, floral taste that lingers.
- Culinary-grade lavender. Be sure to use culinary-grade lavender. Culinary lavender is grown specifically for the taste, whereas some varieties of lavender are grown for the aromatics and can taste soapy.
- All-purpose flour. The base of our cookie. You can also substitute a 1:1 gluten-free flour with good results.
- Salt. Enhances the flavors and strengthens the gluten in the cookie.
- Baking powder and baking soda. I use a blend of leavenings to get the best qualities from both: a good rise and extra browning power.
- Salted butter. I recommend using salted butter if using white or milk chocolate chips, as the extra salt in the butter balances out the sweetness from the chocolate chips.
- Granulated and brown sugar. A mix of both sugars helps these cookies spread just enough and stay moist for days.
- Vanilla extract. You can also use vanilla bean paste if you choose, but I prefer use vanilla extract for baked goods and reserve my vanilla bean paste for unbaked goods (read why here).
- A large egg. The protein in the egg white and the fats in the yolk help the cookie dough hold together perfectly.
- Chocolate chips. I used white chocolate here, but use your favorite: white, dark, milk, semi-sweet, etc!
- Flaky sea salt. While totally optional, a sprinkle of flaky salt on top helps to balance out the sweetness in the cookie, especially with white chocolate.
Quick Tips for Prepping Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies
This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes together quickly and is ready to serve in about a hour. Read on for quick tips and tricks, or you can watch a short walkthrough below:
Grinding the Lavender Buds
While testing this recipe, I made a batch of these cookies with whole lavender buds. The flavor wasn’t quite as strong as I had hoped it would be, so I remade it with the same lavender, just ground up. Instant success! The flavor was more pronounced (but not overwhelming), and every bite had that signature lavender essence.
I leave half of the lavender buds whole so the remaining ones are instantly recognizable in the cookies. Otherwise, it’s hard to tell that there’s a floral infusion in these cookies. (And I think it looks prettier with no impact to the flavor!)
A mortar and pestle works best to finely grind the lavender buds, but a spice grinder, food processor, or even blender will work, too. If you’re having difficulty grinding such a small amount in a food processor, add half of the granulated sugar to the lavender and pulse a few times to break up the lavender buds.
Creaming Together the Sugar, Butter, and Lavender
Creaming the butter with the sugar and lavender is important to get the cookie texture right. I put my butter in the mixer by itself for a minute before adding in the sugars and lavender, then let it mix for an additional two minutes.
The sugar crystals, when moved around in the butter, create little air pockets in the dough. These pockets expand when the cookies are baking and help prevent the cookies from being too dense.
Be sure to add the ground lavender with the sugars here. The oils from the lavender will infuse with the sugar and butter and give the mixture a delicate, floral scent.
Add in the Egg and Flour
The egg adds protein and emulsifiers to the cookie dough, and it’s imperative that it’s mixed well into the dough. I beat the egg into the creamed butter and sugar for no less than two minutes, until the dough is light and fluffy and almost resembles buttercream.
Then, add flour, leavening, and salt. Beat together on low until the dough just starts to come together, usually less than one minute.
Adding the Chocolate Chips
To prevent overworking the dough, I stir in the chocolate chips by hand with a silicone spatula. I find I can be more precise about where the chocolate chips are going in fewer strokes, and I don’t have to listen to my mixer bouncing up and down.
This is also a great time to scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl to ensure everything has been thoroughly mixed together.
Chilling and Scooping the Dough
You can bake these cookies immediately after mixing up the dough, but they will spread a lot and won’t taste quite as delicious. In order to prevent the lavender cookies from spreading and to allow the flavors in the dough to marinate, chill the dough for half an hour.
Cover the bowl of cookie dough with a lid or plastic wrap, then place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 72 hours. This step is especially important during the warm months of the year, where the dough may already be somewhat soft from mixing.
Once the butter has rehardened, scoop about 3 Tablespoons’ worth of cookie dough at a time onto trays lined with parchment paper.
Bake on the middle rack at 375°F/190°C for 9-11 minutes, rotating halfway if your oven doesn’t heat evenly.
Flattening the Lavender Cookies
You can leave your cookies as they are if you like them more puffy, but I like to help the cookies flatten out as soon as they come out of the oven.
I carefully pick up two opposite corners of the parchment paper and quickly lift the entire sheet (cookies and all) about three inches, then drop the paper. I repeat that a few times until the cookies have flattened out a bit and have the signature wrinkles and divots that we all know and love in a cookie!
FAQs about Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies
Do these lavender cookies taste soapy from the lavender?
No, I would never lead you astray like that! There’s just enough lavender to give these cookies a distinctly floral flavor, but not enough to make it soapy if you use culinary-grade lavender.
What is the difference between culinary-grade lavender and other lavender?
Culinary-grade lavender, like English lavender, is grown for its flavor, not aromatics. Other lavenders are grown for their oils to be used in soap, so the flavor doesn’t matter quite as much as the scent. You want to be sure to use culinary-grade lavender for the best flavor. I recommend using Harney and Sons’ French super blue lavender.
How long do these lavender cookies last?
These cookies will last for about a week at room temperature when stored in an airtight container. If you need long-term storage, store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Dish Cleanup: Not Too Bad
I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.
My lavender chocolate chip cookies recipe has a cleanup rating of a 2. The cookie dough comes together in just one bowl, and many of the dishes are just small prep bowls that held my ingredients for photos. Because the cookies bake on parchment paper, I didn’t include the pans. If you bake your cookies directly on your pans, you’ll need to wash those, too.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
This recipe uses my dark chocolate chunk cookie recipe as its base. Because of the dark chocolate and salted butter, they’re not too sweet and totally hit the spot.
My lavender simple syrup is a great way to add a light floral flavor to iced tea, coffee, and co*cktails. I use it in my iced London fog recipe, and I have more recipes for lavender drinks with lavender simple syrup coming out at the end of this month!
If you’re looking for more delicate or tea-themed desserts, my Earl Grey macarons would pair perfectly with these lavender white chocolate chip cookies!
Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Yield: 12 cookies
Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies
Give the classic chocolate chip cookie a delicious floral twist with lavender! Use white, dark, or milk chocolate chips in this recipe for lavender chocolate chip cookies.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time11 minutes
Additional Time30 minutes
Total Time51 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons culinary-grade lavender, divided
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (195g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
- ½ cup salted butter, at room temperature (1 stick, 113g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed (95g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup white chocolate chips (170g)*
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Grind half of the dried lavender (one teaspoon) in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and remaining whole lavender in a medium bowl and mix together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl, if using a hand mixer), cream together the butter, both sugars, and ground lavender for 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes until the mixture is even fluffier and looks similar to cake batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Add in the flour mixture and beat together until mostly incorporated, about 1 minute maximum. Don't overmix, as that can overdevelop the gluten and cause a tough cookie.
- Add in the chocolate chips and stir together with a spatula until the chips are evenly dispersed throughout the dough. Cover the dough and place in the fridge for at least half an hour and up to 72 hours. Chilling the dough will reharden the butter so that the cookies don't spread quite as much in the oven, leaving you with a perfectly shaped cookie every time. And, as a bonus, it better hydrates the flour and the flavors marinate, resulting in a much more delicious cookie!
- Once you're ready to bake the dough, preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- When the dough has chilled, use a medium-sized cookie scoop to scoop the cookies onto the parchment 3 inches apart (six cookies each on a half-sheet pan).**
- Bake the cookies in the center rack for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are a light golden brown but the center still looks a bit gooey.
- Optional: Right after the cookies have come out of the oven, I like to pick up the parchment paper at the opposite corners a few inches and then let it drop a couple times. This flattens the cookies out and gives them that beautiful craggy top.
- Top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt to finish, then let the cookies cool directly on the pan for at least half an hour before moving them.
Notes
*This recipe works well with chocolate chips of all varieties (milk, semi-sweet, dark, and white). My favorites are white and dark chocolate!
**If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can roll the dough into balls from 3 Tablespoons' worth of dough.
Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 7 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 269Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 291mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 0gSugar: 24gProtein: 3g
The nutrition facts are estimated and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
If you make these lavender chocolate chip cookies and love them, please don’t forget to rate the recipe five stars.
I’d love to see how your lavender chocolate chip cookies turn out: Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @floralapronblog to share with me, or use the hashtag #floralapronbakes.
