I always try to use fresh for cooking recipes when possible. Dried lemon verbena has the lemony flavor but it will have a different flavor in cooking than fresh.
LEMON VERBENA BREAD
LEMON VERBENA BREAD
1 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ c. lemon verbena leaves, chopped
1-½ c. sifted flour
1 t. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
½ c. milk
Grated rind of 1 lemon
¾ c. chopped nuts (optional)
Cream butter with verbena leaves in mixer or food processor. Add sugar and beat well, then eggs, salt and remaining ingredients. Grease loaf pans: 1 large, 2 small or 4 mini, and pour in batter. Bake at 350° F. for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on pan size, until bread tests done with a toothpick or cake tester. I usually use a regular size loaf pan and it bakes for 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare glaze (recipe below). Leave loaf in pan. While it is still hot, pour glaze over it and let sit several hours. Remove loaf from pan. Wrap in foil to ripen over night before serving, or freeze immediately.
Glaze
½ c. sugar
2 T. verbena leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Courtesy of The Herb Companion Magazine.
LEMON VERBENA LADY’S JELLY
Makes four 8 oz. jars
1-1/2 c. lemon verbena leaves, torn
2 cups water
2 T. apple cider vinegar
3-1/2 c. sugar
3 oz. Certo liquid pectin
If making multiple recipes of jelly, it is best to harvest and process all of the herbs before you start your recipe(s). It makes the jelly making much easier. (Boil jars for 10 minutes and pour hot water over lids separate from jars.) Put torn verbena leaves and water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 10 seconds, remove from heat and let stand covered for 15 minutes. Measure 1-1/2 cups of liquid, add vinegar and sugar to a 3-1/2 quart saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil that cannot be stirred down on high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat briefly and add pectin. Bring back to a rolling boil and boil for exactly 1 minute stirring constantly. Do not leave the pan or the stove unattended. Remove from heat, skim foam with spoon and pour into sterilized jars. Can the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Serving ideas: You can use jelly in the center of thumbprint cookies after baking. You can put jelly over block of cream cheese to spread over crackers as appetizer You can use a teaspoon or two on a boneless, skinless chicken breast in the last 15 minutes of baking to form a glaze. You can also use a tablespoon or two on a pork roast during the last 15 minutes of roasting.
© 2010 Nancy Heraud
This butter recipe is from Lemony Herbs, a cookbook by the Pennsylvania Heartland Unit of The Herb Society of America.
LEMONY STRAWBERRY BUTTER
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1-1/2 T. sugar
4 T. minced strawberries
1 t. minced fresh lemon balm
1 t. minced fresh lemon verbena
Mix together and let sit overnight if possible. This is wonderful with scones and tea biscuits.
This was a recipe from the Crate Cooking School in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It originally was just for orange zest but I thought lemon zest would be good as well.
LEMON VERBENA ORANGE/LEMON BREAKFAST BUTTER
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
3 T. fresh lemon verbena chopped
2 T. orange or lemon zest
Mix and chill overnight if possible.
LEMONY STRAWBERRY BUTTER
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1-1/2 T. sugar
4 T. minced strawberries
1 t. minced fresh lemon balm
1 t. minced fresh lemon verbena
Mix together and let sit overnight if possible. This is wonderful with scones and tea biscuits.
This was a recipe from the Crate Cooking School in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It originally was just for orange zest but I thought lemon zest would be good as well.
LEMON VERBENA ORANGE/LEMON BREAKFAST BUTTER
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
3 T. fresh lemon verbena chopped
2 T. orange or lemon zest
Mix and chill overnight if possible.
I need to find the source of this cookie recipe and give credit. These are delicious.
LEMON VERBENA SUGAR COOKIES
2-1/2 c. flour
2 T. fresh lemon verbena, chopped
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1-1/2 t. lemon zest
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
extra sugar for rolling
Combine dry ingredients. Set aside. Beat butter, add sugar, eggs and vanilla in separate bowl. Beat until combined. Add half of flour mixture, beat. Stir in remaining dry ingredients with wooden spoon. Make rounded teaspoonfuls. Roll in extra sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are lightly browned. Cool.
This cookie recipe is from Today's Herbal Kitchen by The Memphis Herb Society. I'm all about easy. So I will give you the directions as they are in the book and then I will supplement it with my version.
LEMON VERBENA ALMOND WAFERS
Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies (It made 65 cookies in my case.)
2 sticks butter, softened (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.)
1 cup sugar (I used my lemon verbena and vanilla sugar.)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 T. lemon zest
2 T. chopped dried lemon verbena or
3 T. fresh (I used 3 T. fresh.)
Sliced almonds for garnish
1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Best in egg. Beat in vanilla.
2. Gradually mix in flour until blended. Stir in lemon zest and lemon verbena.
3. Drop by heaping half teaspoons, 2 inches apart, onto an ungreased baking sheet. Gently press a few almond slices into center of each cookie.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool on sheet on a rack for 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully remove from sheet and place directly on rack to cool completely.
These cookies are very tender. If cooled too long on baking sheet, they will break when trying to remove them. If this happens, return cookies to oven for about 1 minute before trying again.
OK, that is the recipe as written, but with my notes in parentheses. This is what I did. I took out my food processor and creamed together the lemon verbena leaves (I think if you are using dried, a food processor is the way to go to pulverize the lemon verbena. That midrib can be an issue in dried lemon verbena.) and the two sticks of butter. Then I added the sugar and continued to cream. Then I added the lemon zest, egg and vanilla and the cake flour at the end. I have a very old original (refurbished) Cuisinart food processor that still works very well. So it's not a big bowl and the recipe fit very well and I could spoon it out easily. It worked great. The only thing I would say about the almonds at the end is to really get them into the batter before baking. A lot of mine just were laying on the top of the cookie and got knocked off when I went to move them into a box. Oh, The Herbal Husband said they were sweet. (Huh, they are a cookie and then proceeded to have several. I lost count.) So I would say they are a hit in this household! Hope you enjoy them.
LEMON VERBENA DIP
Marilyn Rhinehalt, Western Reserve Unit
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used the tub of Philadelphia low fat cream cheese.)
8 oz. lemon yogurt (I used low fat and just used the 8 oz. tub as my measurement.)
1/4 cup lemon verbena leaves, very finely minced (use tender leaves)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
I used my food processor to mix the cream cheese and lemon verbena leaves and then added everything else. You could use a blender or mixer. Just so the cream cheese is incorporated with the yogurt well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Serve with fresh fruit or plain cookies. (It was very delicious especially with Nilla wafers!)
Thanks Marilyn. It is a very delicious recipe and thanks to the Herb Society for letting me share it with you. Great for those hot summertime get togethers. If you go on to share it, please give the Herb Society and Marilyn Rhinehalt from the Western Reserve Unit credit!
This recipe is from Marge Clark's cookbook, The Best of Thymes.
LEMON VERBENA BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins
8 fresh lemon verbena leaves
1 cup of super-fine sugar
3 tablespoons of fresh lemon verbena leaves, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups of fresh blueberries
1 cup of walnuts or black walnuts, finely chopped
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup of safflower oil
1 egg
One day before making muffins, bury the 8 lemon verbena leaves in the 1 cup sugar. Place in a closed container. ( I didn't do this step.)
Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, with cups about 2-1/2 inches across. In a medium bowl, combine the chopped lemon verbena leaves, blueberries and nuts. (I put the lemon verbena leaves and nuts in the food processor and pulsed them to the consistency I wanted.) In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, beat together the milk, safflower oil and egg. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir just until blended. Add the blueberry mixture and fold in gently. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each muffin with 1 teaspoon of the lemon verbena sugar. (I didn't do this step.) Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (I baked a second batch for 20 minutes and they came out better not as over baked.), or until a tester comes out clean. Cool a few minutes, then remove muffins.
Use remaining lemon verbena sugar to flavor other desserts or to sweeten your tea.
Shared by my dear herbal friend, Kathleen Gips from The Village Herb Shop, Chagrin Falls, OH.
LEMON VERBENA GLASS & SURFACE CLEANER
1 T. castile soap
3-3-3/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. unscented alcohol or cheap vodka
Sprigs of lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemongrass, mint and thyme
Pour liquid over herb sprigs and allow to age for 2 weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Use it to clean all glass and surfaces that are sealed. Do not use on wood!
LEMON VERBENA SUGAR COOKIES
2-1/2 c. flour
2 T. fresh lemon verbena, chopped
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1-1/2 t. lemon zest
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
extra sugar for rolling
Combine dry ingredients. Set aside. Beat butter, add sugar, eggs and vanilla in separate bowl. Beat until combined. Add half of flour mixture, beat. Stir in remaining dry ingredients with wooden spoon. Make rounded teaspoonfuls. Roll in extra sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are lightly browned. Cool.
This cookie recipe is from Today's Herbal Kitchen by The Memphis Herb Society. I'm all about easy. So I will give you the directions as they are in the book and then I will supplement it with my version.
LEMON VERBENA ALMOND WAFERS
Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies (It made 65 cookies in my case.)
2 sticks butter, softened (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.)
1 cup sugar (I used my lemon verbena and vanilla sugar.)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 T. lemon zest
2 T. chopped dried lemon verbena or
3 T. fresh (I used 3 T. fresh.)
Sliced almonds for garnish
1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Best in egg. Beat in vanilla.
2. Gradually mix in flour until blended. Stir in lemon zest and lemon verbena.
3. Drop by heaping half teaspoons, 2 inches apart, onto an ungreased baking sheet. Gently press a few almond slices into center of each cookie.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool on sheet on a rack for 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully remove from sheet and place directly on rack to cool completely.
These cookies are very tender. If cooled too long on baking sheet, they will break when trying to remove them. If this happens, return cookies to oven for about 1 minute before trying again.
OK, that is the recipe as written, but with my notes in parentheses. This is what I did. I took out my food processor and creamed together the lemon verbena leaves (I think if you are using dried, a food processor is the way to go to pulverize the lemon verbena. That midrib can be an issue in dried lemon verbena.) and the two sticks of butter. Then I added the sugar and continued to cream. Then I added the lemon zest, egg and vanilla and the cake flour at the end. I have a very old original (refurbished) Cuisinart food processor that still works very well. So it's not a big bowl and the recipe fit very well and I could spoon it out easily. It worked great. The only thing I would say about the almonds at the end is to really get them into the batter before baking. A lot of mine just were laying on the top of the cookie and got knocked off when I went to move them into a box. Oh, The Herbal Husband said they were sweet. (Huh, they are a cookie and then proceeded to have several. I lost count.) So I would say they are a hit in this household! Hope you enjoy them.
LEMON VERBENA DIP
Marilyn Rhinehalt, Western Reserve Unit
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used the tub of Philadelphia low fat cream cheese.)
8 oz. lemon yogurt (I used low fat and just used the 8 oz. tub as my measurement.)
1/4 cup lemon verbena leaves, very finely minced (use tender leaves)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
I used my food processor to mix the cream cheese and lemon verbena leaves and then added everything else. You could use a blender or mixer. Just so the cream cheese is incorporated with the yogurt well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Serve with fresh fruit or plain cookies. (It was very delicious especially with Nilla wafers!)
Thanks Marilyn. It is a very delicious recipe and thanks to the Herb Society for letting me share it with you. Great for those hot summertime get togethers. If you go on to share it, please give the Herb Society and Marilyn Rhinehalt from the Western Reserve Unit credit!
This recipe is from Marge Clark's cookbook, The Best of Thymes.
LEMON VERBENA BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins
8 fresh lemon verbena leaves
1 cup of super-fine sugar
3 tablespoons of fresh lemon verbena leaves, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups of fresh blueberries
1 cup of walnuts or black walnuts, finely chopped
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup of safflower oil
1 egg
One day before making muffins, bury the 8 lemon verbena leaves in the 1 cup sugar. Place in a closed container. ( I didn't do this step.)
Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, with cups about 2-1/2 inches across. In a medium bowl, combine the chopped lemon verbena leaves, blueberries and nuts. (I put the lemon verbena leaves and nuts in the food processor and pulsed them to the consistency I wanted.) In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, beat together the milk, safflower oil and egg. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir just until blended. Add the blueberry mixture and fold in gently. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each muffin with 1 teaspoon of the lemon verbena sugar. (I didn't do this step.) Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (I baked a second batch for 20 minutes and they came out better not as over baked.), or until a tester comes out clean. Cool a few minutes, then remove muffins.
Use remaining lemon verbena sugar to flavor other desserts or to sweeten your tea.
Shared by my dear herbal friend, Kathleen Gips from The Village Herb Shop, Chagrin Falls, OH.
LEMON VERBENA GLASS & SURFACE CLEANER
1 T. castile soap
3-3-3/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. unscented alcohol or cheap vodka
Sprigs of lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemongrass, mint and thyme
Pour liquid over herb sprigs and allow to age for 2 weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Use it to clean all glass and surfaces that are sealed. Do not use on wood!