If you're looking for a slightly sweet treat to share with loved ones this season, these crispy and buttery shortbread cookies are perfection! Sanding sugar adds sparkle.

Mr DIY and I are fairly new empty nesters, so the pantry is (mostly) devoid of all the carb-heavy snacks that our kids usually prefer. We're also trying to kick a sugar addiction, but that doesn't mean we don't indulge occasionally.

Rosemary orange shortbread cookies make a yummy bite-size after dinner treat without feeling like you've over-indulged. Whether you make them for Valentines Day, or any day of the year, they are so easy with minimal ingredients, and come together very quickly.

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(adapted from an original recipe featured in 'The Lost Apothecary' by Sarah Penner)

I love shortbread recipes for their minimal ingredients, and the fact that no eggs are needed. It's hard to believe such a melt in your mouth, buttery cookie can come from this short ingredient list, but it does!

• 3/4 cup softened salted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup plus 6 level tablespoons all purpose flour
• chopped fresh rosemary and orange zest - about 1/2 tbsp
• extra flour for rolling out
• optional: coarse sanding sugar
• 2" heart shaped cookie cutter

We have a rosemary plant that is over-wintering in our garage, so I snipped off some leaves for this recipe. However, fresh rosemary can be found in the refrigerated produce section at most grocery stores.

Start by finely chopping the fresh rosemary. I love my Santoku knife for this task. Rosemary leaves can be tough...you'll want to pull them off the main stem and discard any dry or discolored bits. At this point I also zested an orange, but didn't use it all. I filled a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon with my chopped rosemary, then filled it the rest of the way with orange zest. The orange can quickly overpower the flavor and taste bitter, so don't go too heavy.

If you don't have fresh rosemary on hand, yes you can use dried rosemary. However, because dried herbs are much more potent than fresh, you'll want to only use about 1/2 tsp.

This is such a fast recipe to mix up, I like to do it by hand rather than getting the mixer dirty. Start by creaming the soft butter with sugar. Add the flour, rosemary and orange zest and mix by hand until well mixed and no flour is visible. The dough should be easy to clump into a ball.

Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with flour, and roll dough out to 1/2" thickness. Shortbread bakes best when it's thicker. If you roll it too thin, you'll have very crunchy, rather than buttery, cookies.

Use heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheet pan. Shortbread cookies don't spread too much, so you can place the cookies fairly close together.

Sprinkle cookies with sanding sugar for extra sparkle!

Important: don't bake yet! Cookies need to chill in the fridge or freezer before baking...1 hour in fridge, or 30 minutes in freezer.

Bake at 375°F for 10-14 minutes. Cookies should be slightly browned around edges and you should smell them!

Cool completely on baking rack before storing, but sampling while cookies are warm is highly encouraged! 

Note: If you don't find these shortbread cookies sweet enough, mix up a quick icing to drizzle over the top once cooled. I would use 1-2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice whisked with enough powdered sugar to make a loose icing. 

Mmmmmm....buttery shortbread is so delicious! Enjoy these cookies with a cup of tea, after dinner, or an anytime snack.

Shortbread cookies package beautifully for gifting, and who wouldn't love to receive a stack of fresh baked treats that are so pretty?

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy these rosemary orange shortbread cookies!

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