Lemon Cookies

Me and lemon are best friends. If you've been reading faithfully, you've already read about/seen my adventures with lemon broth soup. I'm a firm believer that adding lemon juice (fresh squeezed, please) to so many things (broiled fish, yogurt sauces, chicken soup, teas) to cut into the taste and provide a little burst of freshness, a similar experience to adding fresh herbs (a whole other post...). While I have not had positive experiences attempting to make lemon curd, I love it and think drizzling it over yogurt or cake or anything really is delicious (note to self: try again...). Further proof that lemon flavored goodies reign supreme is that even the bakeries that suck at everything (like DC's CakeLove, which is an experience I don't even want to get into right now), make delicious lemon bars.

Cookings seem to be THE holiday food. Shortbread, sugar, gingerbread, you name it and someone will be making it within the holiday season. After reading about so many people's adventures with lemon cookies, I have been consistently craving them. Our mini-holiday soiree was the perfect opportunity to test these bad boys out.

Cathie's version, which was adapted from Martha Stewart, looked so fantastic that I chose them to sample. They were so fantastic! I overcooked the first half of my batch and they were a little crunchier than I would have liked but the second half turned out just right. The flavor was just right, with tons of lemon flavor and enough sugar, without being too sugary. Enjoy!

Lemon Cookies
makes about 20
from Cathie Cooks Food

2 cups flour (plus more for work surface)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

Put granulated sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 1 minute. Add butter and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture.

On a lightly floured work surface, halve the dough. Flatten each half into a 10 inch disk, and warp each in plastic. Freeze until firm, about t 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 325F. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough on parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. cut shapes from dough with a 3 inch flower shape cookie cutter. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cut a hole in centre of each with a 1-inch round cutter, repeat with remaining disk. Warp scraps in plastic. Freeze 30 mins, re-roll, and cut.


Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until set, about 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Before serving sift confectioners sugar over cookies.