Rosewater Cookies
“The very winds were lovesick,” Shakespeare wrote this in reference to the perfumed air of Cleopatra’s cedarwood ship whose sails were scented with rosewater. So romantic! Just as Cleopatra was, I am in love with this heavenly liquid! I mean come on, it was fit for a queen, now anybody can go to the nearest middle eastern store and pick up high qualitly rosewater for a bargain price.
Rosewater has been valued by many cultures for centuries for its profound healing properties on both a physical and psychological level. Many different religions use rosewater for purification. We use it a lot in my humble abode….we mix it with our lotion and apply it after showers, spray it onto pillowcases before falling asleep (there’s nothing like drifting off to sleep and having rose-scented dreams), and a refreshing cool spritz on a hot summer day is the best! Many of my favorite skin products use essential rose……
I had read somewhere that if you put a little rosewater in your face cream it would make men’s heads turn……I did try this (before I was married of course) and it worked, but on the wrong man! (He He)
We can even cook with rosewater. Many cultures from all over the world have been cooking with it for centuries. Shakespeare also mentions the use of it in cooking when Romeo speaks of “old cakes of roses.” Here’s a delicious rosewater cookie recipe so you can make your own “cakes of roses.”
German Rose Water Cookies
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 t lemon extract
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 c sour cream
1 1/2 t rosewater
3 c flour
1/8t salt
Preheat the oven to 325. Cream the sugar and butter. Beat in yolks, vanilla and lemon. Combine the baking soda and sour cream, then stir into the sugar mixture. Add the rosewater. Finally add the flour and salt. Roll out the dough on a floured surface (the dough doesn’t require chilling) and cut with cookie cutters. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes. Cool and frost with your favorite frosting.
*If you want more of a rosewater taste in this cookie, you need to decrease the amount of lemon extract and increase the rosewater.
These are delicious cookies and would make a great valentine gift! This summer we are going to make our own rosewater. I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes!
wow, my tonic for my face use rose water. I didn’t know you can buy the actual water at middle eastern store. I’d have to check that out. Thank you.
The most wonderful drink that I have ever had was a rosewater coooler (it had iced tea, maybe some juice?) in it at a little Mediterranean restaurant in Ashland, Oregon.
Thank you so much for sharing the rosewater cookie recipe. They sound divine! And this is a German cookie that I have not tried before. I am a huge rosewater (rose anything) fan as well! Lovely blog, I can’t wait to read more.
I have an entire bottle of rosewater that I have never opened because I don’t know what to use it for. Now I have an idea!
Lisa, that is so sweet. Littles say the cutest things!
YUM!!!! I am so going to make these cookies! I was introduced to rosewater for the first time in the Middle East when I lived there. I went to visit someone’s house and they had a big refreshing cooler of water – we were all so thirsty. I took a BIG gulp and realized it was water infused with a few caps of rosewater! A strange surprise. I later learned that rosewater helps refresh you in the heat. They also put it in the milk and make rosewater puddings. An aquired taste…but once you acquire it…lovely!
5 Orange Potatoes is a name that my youngest came up with. She loves the word potatoe and told me I should name my blog “5 Orange Potatoes”….I agreed!
These are very delicious cookies…especially if you love lemon. The lemon overpowers the rosewater a bit…I would decrease the lemon to 1t and increase the rosewater by a 1/2t if you want more of a rosewater taste.
I am definitely going to make those cookies, they look heavenly.
What a great Valentine idea… aah, so many cool things to do!
Oh my how I adore rosewater too!! For toning, spritzing, jelly, syrup…turkish delight! Thanks for the recipe…how divine…I have a bottle waiting that I can use right now!
Your blog has a very unique name. How’d you come up with it?
Love the scent of Rosewater.