Got Zest? Make Lemon Sugar Cookies.
I’m still in the midst of lemon season, so I have been busy making recipes with lemons. I have a huge bag of Meyer Lemons and so I wanted a recipe that would help use them up. Making the extra strength Meyer Lemon Sorbet recipe helped, but I still had almost a dozen lemons leftover. My wife and kids had been clamoring for another batch of sugar cookies since I made Old Fashioned Sugar cookies (with just a hint of orange). When I saw this recipe for Lemon Sugar Cookies, I knew I could address two goals at the same time.
This recipe calls for a lot of lemons. In fact, I can’t recall any other recipes I have made that call for 1/3 cup of lemon zest. Surprisingly, the baking process obscures a good deal of the zest, but they still have a nice lemon flavor. These cookies are also a little less delicate than the Old Fashioned Sugar Cookie recipe. Perhaps the 400°F oven played a part in these last two cookie traits; most recipes are 375 or 350. The coworkers at my new job don’t gobble up cookies like at my last couple jobs, so I now give most of the cookies (gotta save some for the kids’ lunches) to my wife for her to take into her work. She said that the cookies were all gone by 10:30 AM. That’s more like it.
Ingredients for making Lemon Sugar Cookies.
Mix 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg until light and fluffy.
Juice 1 lemon to yield 2 tablespoons of juice.
Add 1/3 cup of lemon zest (yes, 1/3 cup—about 6 lemons worth) and mix well.
Mix together 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until blended. Gradually add this to butter mixture, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls and gently roll in sugar before placing on silpat baking mat.
Flatten dough with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Press down until ball is half inch high.
Bake in 400°F for 9 – 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
Transfer cookies from baking sheet to cooling racks and let cool.
The recipe pictured above, with detailed instructions and complete photo gallery can be found on the Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe page.
