lemon thyme shortbread cookies

the temperatures in midland, Michigan have been so warm these past few days.  spring is coming and i will be in my herb garden again very soon.  in fact, some of my herbs are greening up already and just waiting to be used in many herbal recipes.

this inspired me to bake these cookies which use dried thyme leaves.  they are a great cookie and include an herb that usually isn't used in baking sweets.

to make the cookie, combine 3/4 cup of room temperature unsalted butter, with 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar in a mixer.  then add, 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons of dried thyme leaves.

in another small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl slowly to combine.  roll into two logs and wrap in plastic wrap.  chill at least one hour.

remove and slice to bake on parchment covered baking sheets.  bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes, rotate and bake again to lightly brown, about 2 more minutes.

these are very nice tasty tea cookies and your guests will be interested to hear that the cookies include the herb thyme.