
I had two bake sales and a Girl Scout camping weekend to bake for last weekend. I was quite surprised when my daughter requested lemon balm cookies. The lemon balm is the only thing up in the garden so far. It's been too wet to plant anything else yet. Lemon Balm is an herb, similar to mint. While I don't remember my grandmother baking with it, I do know that it's been used for teas and other herbal recipes for years.
I like to chop it finely and add it to a basic butter shortbread cookie recipe. Here's one for you to try. These were a bit hard because I used butter-flavor Crisco instead of real butter. They make great dunking cookies though!
Old-Fashioned Lemon Balm Refrigerator Cookie SlicesMix together 1/2 cup soft butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add 1 egg and mix well. Add 1/4 cup minced lemon balm and 1 teaspoon lemon flavoring (or 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest if desired), and 2 cups flour.
Shape into a log and roll in waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Slice cookies and bake at 350° until lightly browned.