Cookies!

 

 Most you of you might remember my cookie-recipe quest. I want to make different cookies for Easter/Spring celebrations and send out cookie baskets. I want bright, happy, Spring-type cookies, like lemon, orange, and lime. Those are completely different from the requests I'm getting--eggnog, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, and pumpkin cookies. My son threw in his request for blueberry cookies. *blinks* Apparently, he's eaten a couple recently and adores them. 

I always thought of eggnog and pumpkin cookies more for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, while chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin as ordinary all-year round cookies. May be I'm old-fashioned? May be I'm totally out of sync with the times? 

Anyway, I decided to save myself a lot of grief, I needed to try these recipes before making them for the cookie baskets. I figured, knowing my luck, that if they weren't that great, I'd rather know now than when I'm trying to get a bunch of different cookies made come Easter/Spring time. This gives me plenty of time to decide whether a recipe is a keeper or not and whether or not to include it in the baskets. I figured I'd save myself some grief later, right?

So here's my first trial batch: Lemon Butter Cookies

A Special Note: These cookies need to age a couple of days for the lemon to come bursting out. This makes it perfect for sending cookies through the mail!

Lemon Butter Cookies

Early Prep: Grate the peel of 5 lemons and save the zest. Juice two lemons. You will need 2 1/2 -3  TBSP of lemon zest and 1/4 cup of lemon juice.  

Add 1/2- 1 TBSP of lemon zest to 1/2 cup of white sugar and mix well. Set aside. 

3 cups of unenriched/unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of kosher salt
Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside. 

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 large egg 

Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy with electric beaters/mixer. I used the wire whip on the Kitchen-Aid, and beat at medium speed until it was mixed. Then I increased the speed for about a minute, which made the butter and sugar mix light and very fluffy. 

Add the egg--minus the shell. :D Always wanted to say that! And mix into the butter-sugar mix until thoroughly mixed and still fluffy. Add lemon juice and 2 TBSP of lemon zest into the mix. Beat until thoroughly mixed.  

Add dry ingredients and mix well. Mixture will be crumbly.  Divide dough in half, place each half on a sheet of waxed paper. Shape in to logs about 2-3 inches in diameter. Wrap well in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least an hour. After dough is completely chilled, unwrap and slice it into 1/4-1/2 inch slices. Place slices on ungreased cookie sheets. Dough will spread--so leave plenty of room between slices. Crowding will not work with this recipe. 

Sprinkle lemon sugar on cookie slices. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. The edges should be golden brown. Cool for about 2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheets to a wire rack. Let the cookies age for a couple of days before serving in an airtight container.