Violet Shortbread Cookies

These Violet Shortbread Cookies are delicate, buttery, and beautifully floral, topped with candied violet petals and finished with a drizzle of white chocolate. Crisp at the edges and tender in the centre, they combine classic shortbread richness with a subtle botanical aroma that feels elegant and just a little nostalgic.

Hello, folks! How are you doing? I hope you had a wonderful and restful weekend and are now ready for a new week.

And in case you need something special to cheer yourself up on Monday (or any other day), I’ve got you covered. These Violet Shortbread Cookies won’t disappoint you.

Floral-Flavoured Cookies

I love botanical flavours in sweet and savoury recipes. And I certainly love floral-flavoured cookies, too. Please be sure to check recipes from the Havoc in the Kitchen:

• Lilac Sugar Shortbread Cookies (No Mixer and No Chill Recipe)
• Rose Shortbread Cookies (With Pistachios and Cardamom)
• Lilac Shortbread Cookies (With Lilac-Infused Butter)
• Lavender Shortbread Cookies (with White Chocolate Glaze)

And today, I am exited to share with your another shortbread recipes – infused with violets.

Why You’ll Love These Violet Shortbread Cookies

• Delicate Floral Aroma: Violet adds a gentle, perfumed note without overpowering the buttery base.
• Buttery and Crumbly: Classic shortbread texture — rich, tender, and perfectly crisp around the edges.
• Visually Stunning: Candied violet petals make these cookies look refined and special.
• Not Overly Sweet: The balance of butter and floral notes keeps the sweetness in check.
• Perfect for Occasions: Ideal for spring gatherings, tea parties, gifting, or elegant dessert platters.

Ingredients You’ll Need For These Violet Shortbread Cookies

To make these cookies, you will need the following ingredients:

• Butter – the key ingredient of any shortbread dough. Butter contributes to the unique and rich flavour and texture. That’s why it is important to use high-quality – particularly, European-style butter known for its higher fat content. I often use European-style butter for making shortbread. But I also often use American-style butter, and it works well, too.
• Sugar – granulated sugar is a common ingredient, but you can also use powdered (confectioners’) sugar for an even more delicate texture. I usually use just a little sugar as we don’t like overly sweet cookies. Besides, this allows you to play with other sweet additions, including glaze.
• All-purpose flour is the standard choice, but some recipes may incorporate a small amount of cornstarch for a more tender crumb. I sometimes swap one or two tablespoons of flour for corn starch, and this method results in a truly fine texture.
• Salt – a pinch of salt helps to balance the sweetness and enhance the overall flavour. 
• Vanilla extract – optional, adds a subtle flavour.
• Crystallized violet – added both to the dough and sprinkled over the chocolate drizzle. You can get a jar at Amazon. It’s quite a pricey product, but you will need only about 15-20 grams, so one small fifty-gram jar will be enough for 2-3 recipes.
• White chocolate – for garnish. Because the cookies are already quite sweet to my liking, I opted for a drizzle. But you can totally dip one side of your cookies into the melted chocolate (in this case, you will need to roughly double the amount of chocolate.)

Violet Shortbread Cookies with Crème de Violette

I made these cookies last summer, just a few days before Andrew surprised me by presenting me a bottle of Crème de Violette. (I knew violet liqueurs were a thing in Europe, but I had never seen them in Nova Scotia.)

If I had this liqueur on the day I was making these cookies, I would have definitely made a boozy glaze instead of the white chocolate drizzle. (Because you know me!)

It would have elevated a subtle violet aroma to a different, more pronounced level. But it would have also made cookies more sweet, too. I will certainly make these cookies with a liqueur glaze next time, but you don’t need to wait. To make the glaze, simply combine some icing sugar (1/2 to 1 cup, depending on how much glaze you would like to have) with a few spoons of liqueur, until smooth and quite thick yet still easily spreadable.

More Violet Recipes

Do you love a pleasant violet aroma? Try more recipes:

• Violet Mojito Cocktail
• Violet Martini Cocktail
• Lavender Violet Martini Cocktail

I hope you like this Violet Shortbread Cookies recipe, and you will give it a try. If you try it, please let me know in the comment section of this post below, send me an Instagram message, or share your photos by adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

Violet Shortbread Cookies

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Buttery violet shortbread cookies topped with candied violet petals and white chocolate. Delicate, floral, and beautifully crumbly.

Course: Cookies

5.0 from 1 vote

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Servings

24-30

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Cooling / Setting

1

hour

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 170 g. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, ideally European-style butter but good-quality American-style butter works just fine

• about 200-215 g. (~1 ⅔ to 1 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
  you may need more – See Notes

• 2 tbsp. (30 g.) granulated sugar – you can use icing sugar for a more delicate texture

• a good pinch of salt

• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) vanilla extract, optional

• 2 tbsp. (about 20 g.) crystalized violet petals, divided

• about 70 g. white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

• Cut the butter into few large pieces, place in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for about 25-40 seconds or until very soft (partly melted); or melt a small saucepan over stovetop heat.
• Combine the soften/melted butter with the sugar, vanilla extract (if using), and salt. Beat with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds until well-incorporated.
• Stir in the flour and mix until remains dough; don’t overmix. If the dough looks a little too dry or crumbly (that happens as density of ingredients could wary), you can easily fix it by adding a little (1-2 tsp. or 5-10 ml.) of milk or water.
• Divide the crystalized violet petals into two parts with one part being larger (about 2/3). Set aside the smaller part. If sugared petals are quite large, using a knife, slightly mince the bigger part in smaller pieces. Add them to the dough and mix just for 10 seconds, until incorporated and spread.
• While this dough does not require long chilling, I suggest refrigerating it for about 10 minutes as it helps to improve the texture. This also helps when the dough feels a bit too sticky to touch – don’t add extra flour and instead chill a little.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (~175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough out with a rolling-pin about 7-8 mm thick (about ¼–⅓ inch). You may go with up to 1 cm thick (slightly less than 1/2 inch), but the baking time will increase. If the dough feels too moist, sprinkle the surface and the dough with a little of flour; just don’t use too much as cookies could turn more tough. Cut cookies using cookie cutters or simply with a knife. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake for about 9-14 minutes (depending on size and your preference) or until the edges are slightly golden. If you prefer delicate, moist, and soft cookies, bake them about 10 minutes, if you prefer them crisp and more browned, bake them for extra 2-3 minutes or so. Remove from oven and completely cool.
• Place the chopped white chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 15-20-second intervals, stirring every time between each interval. Depending on how fine you chopped it, 2 to 3 intervals should be enough. Using a fork or a small whisk, mix the melted chocolate until smooth.
• Using a fork, drizzle the cookies over with the melted chocolate. Garnish them with the reserved part of candied violets and them them completely set, for up to one hour. Enjoy!

Notes

• The traditional shortbread ratio is 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour by weight. Because this recipe uses less sugar than classic shortbread, the standard ratio would place 175 g butter at roughly 250–260 g of flour (including any starch if using in place a part of flour). However, flour density can vary significantly, so I always recommend starting with less and adjusting as needed. Depending on the brand and how compacted the flour is, you may need as little as 200-215 g of dry ingredients to achieve a soft, pliable dough without it becoming dry or floury.