Lemon Cookie

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I needed something quick to make to take to a post tennis lunch, this fit the bill perfectly with all the ingredients on hand.  This recipe has been on many blogs, websites, pinterest, etc. after winning a cookie contest the news spread fast how good they are. Lauren's Latest  is the blogger who won the contest and started this Lemon Cookie craze.  Thank you Lauren!  They are quick & simple to make.  A couple changes I would make for my taste are I like more tart lemon flavor so will add some lemon extract and maybe even substitute it for the vanilla completely.  I love a good tart lemon taste, so will also add more zest.  This recipe makes 2-3 dozen I did get that many out of it but will double the recipe next time.  

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter, softened

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 t vanilla

1 egg

1 t lemon zest

1 T lemon juice

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking powder

1/8 t baking soda 

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c powdered sugar

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 350° line cookie sheet with parchment.

In mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy.  Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, & lemon juice scraping sides once.  Stir together salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour and add to mixer bowl.  Mix till combined, scrape sides, mix again.  Put powdered sugar into bowl.  Drop dough by teaspoonful into powdered sugar coating the whole ball of dough.  Place on baking sheet allowing room to spread.  Bake for 9-11 min or till bottom edges begin to brown.  I used a higher oven rack and it took the full 11 minutes for mine.  Let cookies sit a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack.  

Thats my honeysuckle plant that is covered in blooms.

Pizzelle

The DeMarco electric Pizzelle maker was invented in 1946 in Steubenville, Ohio.  My husbands grandmother  Dorothy Ann Taylor had one that the paper work says was still awaiting a patent.  She passed away 25 years ago and probably hadn't used this for about 5 years before that so when I decided to try it out I wasn't sure it would even heat up.  To my surprise it did, and  is now back in business.   Pizzelles are tradition and memories that made me want to try them, you can actually buy them fairly cheap now.  The history of Pizzelle comes from Abruzzo, Italy when they are made for celebrations.  They will even make irons with the family crest to imprint the cookie, that would be great to have.  Here is a good site for more info on that Pizzellecookies.com.  When making them it might be a good idea to have a helper the process moves pretty quick.  This is a way to share Nan's story, if I wanted them for a crowd I would probably purchase them.


Pizzelle

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter @ room temp
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp anise extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Plug in Pizzelle maker and allow to preheat about 15 min. unless you have a modern one that has a thermostat light then go by that.

Meanwhile in a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until well blended.  Add in the eggs, anise, vanilla and beat well.  Then sift in flour, baking powder, salt and mix.

When maker is hot drop spoon full of batter onto hot Pizzelle maker, close top down and allow to cook.  You will have to do a few to see how fast yours cook, mine are done at 30 sec. but as you can see I'm dealing with a very old maker.  I think a lot of the new ones are non stick surfaces and the heat is better regulated.  My directions say to throw out the first 6 till the iron is working well, I threw out about 3-4 and they seemed to be coming out fine from there.  When you go to remove them from the maker mine stuck more to the top iron so I used 2 small spatulas to carefully remove it from the iron.  Let them cool they will crisp quickly and dust with powdered sugar.  This made about 12.

Other serving ideas:
Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Substitute 1/4 c cocoa powdered for 1/4 c flour for chocolate Pizzelle.
Substitute different flavored extracts.
Add some lemon zest.

**You do need to be ready to move fast they cook quickly.

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

I am always trying new cut out cookies, while Martha's have been my favorite this recipe caught my eye.  I liked that it makes a large batch and also the lemon zest gives the cookie a  subtle fresh flavor.  These are usually a once a year venture for me, the time & mess involved can't get me to do them any more often.  I love the look of a beautiful decorated cookie but I just don't have the knack for that, so mine get a smooth coating of icing maybe a few sprinkles and they taste just as good......just not as artistic.  Found this recipe at one of my favorite sites thekitchn.com , Faith Durand has so many great recipes and so far they have all come out as expected.  Nothing worse than doing all that work and not liking the end product.  This makes a lot of cookies, an average size cookie would have given me about 8 dozen, I did have to do some large ones for fun.



Cut Out Cookies


3 c unsalted butter softened at room temp about an hour
3 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
6 ounces cream cheese room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp lemon zest
9 c flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

In a bowl cream butter, gradually adding sugar continue till light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time mixing after each, add cream cheese and continue beating till well incorporated.  Add flavorings and lemon zest.

Mix flour, soda, salt in another bowl.  Gradually add into wet mixture until well incorporated---this is a bit of a workout till you get done.  I divided the dough evenly into 3 large ziploc bags and refrigerate the recipe says at least an hour I did mine overnight.

preheat oven to 350°

To roll out dough I divided each ziploc in half again to make it easier to work with, then rolled it out I use confectioner sugar to roll out my dough instead of flour either will work but the confectioner sugar leaves a nicer texture to the cookie.  I also bake cookies on parchment which makes the whole process go better.

After I have a cookie sheet full I put them back in the refrigerator for about 10 min to set them back up a bit.  Then bake for about 11 minutes depending on your oven.  Watch them closely as soon as you see the edge start to brown they are done.

Let cool before icing or decorating.

Royal Icing

3/4 c warm water
5 T meringue powder
mix till frothy about 30 sec.

add 1 t cream of tarter mix another 30 sec.
add 2 1/4 lbs confectioner sugar

Mix on low about 10 min.

Add more water to make thinner icing or more confectioner sugar for thicker.

Keep bowl covered as it dries out quick.

You need a really big bowl!

Parchment paper makes cookie baking so much easier.

Love my Pennsylvania cookie cutter!

These racks are stackable & work really well,
 from Pampered  Chef.

I use Meringue Powder instead of egg whites for Royal Icing.

Outlining can help icing go quicker,
but the outlining is a bit tedious for me.

Letting them dry takes a lot of counter space,
good idea to order dinner out that night.

Cherry Kiss Cookie

Wow, saw this recipe and new it was a must try.  Cherry Cordial Kiss Cookie I found it posted on food.com read through it quickly, stopping to pick up Maraschino Cherries, kisses and white flour on my way home from playing tennis in 95° weather!  Yes, I heated the oven up in this weather and they were worth it.  After I got home realized it calls for the cherry flavored kisses but I used the regular flavor and it was still yummy.  I can't think of to many people that don't like chocolate covered cherries, this has a lighter cherry flavor.  The only negative is they hard to store since you can't stack them up while the kiss is still soft, so that takes a bit of planning.  Which I didn't do so they are sitting around the kitchen and every time you pass by you have to try another so they may not make it to their destination.

Cherry Kiss Cookie


Ingredients:
1 C softened butter
1 C powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp maraschino cherry juice
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 C chopped maraschino cherries
Hershey Kisses
granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°
Beat butter for about 30 sec. add powdered sugar & salt beat till just blended.   Beat in cherry liquid and almond extract.  Beat in flour a little at a time till just blended, add chopped cherries.  Scoop dough into 1 inch balls, depress with thumb print and sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar.  Bake for about 13 min till bottom edge begins to brown.  Remove from oven and quickly add kiss to cookie then allow to cool on rack.

butter, powdered sugar, salt blending

chopping cherries

Hershey's  (try not to eat them all ahead of time)

scoop into 1 inch balls

thumb print

sprinkle with granulated sugar

add kiss quickly

These would be adorable for a pink party.

Lime Shortbread Cookies

     This is a basic shortbread recipe I just added lime to and really liked the flavor.  A pastry blender works great when you are trying to incorporate flour into butter.  This one was my grandmothers, the newer ones have a place for your thumb which helps if your mixture is thicker.

Lime Shortbread

1 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
zest of 2-3 limes

with pastry wire blend them together

2 1/2 c flour

then blend in flour till crumbly, turn onto saran wrap and press together

Press into shortbread pan or baking dish till about 1/2 inch deep, then score the dough to the shapes you want to cut the cookies into.

I used round cake pan and this recipe filled 2 cake pans.


bake at 325 for 20 min or just starting to brown on edges

let cool, they are good this way but for added lime flavor mix powdered sugar with the lime juice from the 2 limes to form glaze and drizzle over shortbread.