With so much chocolate and ginger this time of year, a nice tart lemon cookie is a refreshing change of pace. These are very lemony, but also very rich and buttery. They’re one of my personal favorites.
Submitted by Tonia Seidita
Recipe
1⁄2 cup butter, soft
1 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
11/2 cup flour
1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
Process zest and granulated sugar in food processor for 30 seconds, until zest is ground fine. Cream together the zest and sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon juice, scrape sides and mix again. Stir together flour, salt, baking powder and soda just until mixed. Add flour mixture into wet mixture and mix together just until dough is formed, scrape sides and mix again. Refrigerate for 1⁄2 hour.
Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and cover in powdered sugar (be sure to cover thickly). Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes or until tops have cracked and bottoms are just slightly golden. Rotate cookie sheets half way through.
Let cookies cool on sheets for 3 minutes and move to rack to cool thoroughly.
Tonia’s Story:
I love anything lemon flavored. These cookies have a great lemon flavor and their texture is delicate. I got a Blue ribbon for these at the Sonoma County Fair.
I am dedicating this recipe to my mother in-law, Jo, who always enjoyed all of the cookies I would bake for the Holidays. Last week I baked 5 types of cookies, including these, for Jo’s memorial.