This recipe has been mentioned on several blogs, and it’s a hit on all of them. It’s from the April 2007 issue of "Every Day With Rachael Ray" magazine. The cookies are really good! The lemon adds a touch of "sophistication" and takes them from plain to extra special. They remind me of sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, only with lemon. The recipe calls for the zest of 2 lemons but I only used 1 since they are over 30 cents apiece here. If I had a lemon tree in backyard I’d definitely use 2. I was wondering why my cookies lately have been sort of flat. The cookies in pictures on other blogs looked puffier. At one point I replaced the baking powder and cream of tartar in my cupboard with new jars. I must have overlooked the baking soda because the box had a date of 1995! It still had some oomph but not as much as a fresh box. I bake a lot and wasn’t even close to using up the box of soda, so I’ll have to remember to replace it every so often, and use the old box to clean the sink, etc.
To completely change the subject, one of the tips on Rachael’s talk show awhile back was for uses for salt. She took some coarse salt and put it down the sink, followed by hot water, to keep the drain clear. I tried it on my bathroom sink, without the salt, to dissolve the gunk (toothpaste, face cream, etc., that accumulates in there). It seems to help, and without any chemicals!
LEMON COOKIES
Makes 3 dozen (I made mine about 1" balls and got 28)
1 stick butter (the recipe says chilled but mine was softened)
1 1/4 cups sugar
Grated peel of 2 lemons, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. (I used silicon baking sheets, like a Silpat knockoff.) Using an electric mixer, combine the butter, 1 cup sugar, the lemon peel and juice until fluffy. Mix in the egg. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and combine.
2. Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Roll heaping teaspoons of dough into balls, then roll in the sugar. Place on the prepared cookie sheets a few inches apart. Bake until golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheets to racks to cool completely.
2 comments:
These are hands down - my absolutely favorite cookie ever!!!
It is light and sophisticated and is perfect for brunches, spring holidays and baby/wedding showers.
The only downside is that I could eat ALL 3 dozen of them in one sitting.
They ARE that good! Wow.
I add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter. I also combine the dipping sugar with the zest of one lemon. All this boosts the lemon flavor. By default, I didn't have enough butter, so I had to substitute 2 T of shortening for the remainder to equal a 1/2 cup. The result was an extra crunchy cookie, which was a nice change.
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