radiopeter

So I found out that my friend Sergio (boyfriend of Johnny Dangerous) has a soft spot for lemon cookies. We went out last night to grab a drink and they stopped by for a bit. How apropos that the first thing I baked post-fast was a super simple frosted lemon cookie recipe. They are made completely in the food-processor and the most difficult thing about them is waiting for the dough to cool down enough to slice into rounds.

They’re basically a sugar cookie made with with lemon juice and zest. The frosting is a bit of cream cheese (or milk), lemon juice, and tons of powdered sugar. Easy peasy and super delicious, this recipe is adapted from the Cooks Illustrated version. The nutmeg sounds strange but trust me, it works.

Cookies:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 pinches nutmeg (fresh grated is best)

1. Add sugar and zest to food processor and process until the sugar is damp and you can really smell the lemon.
2. Add the flour, salt, baking powder to the processor and process until blended, a few good pulses to really stir it all up.
3. Evenly distribute cold butter cubes over flour mixture and process in 10-15 pulses until butter is cut into the mixture and the texture is cornmeal like.
4. Whisk yolk, lemon juice, vanilla, and nutmeg in a measuring cup with a spout.
5. Turn processor on and stream the liquid mixture into the processor. Let it run until a dough begins to form. It only should take between 10 and 30 seconds.
6. Unload the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log of dough about 2 inches wide. Wrap tightly and put in the freezer for 45 minutes.
7. Slice the dough to about 1/2 inch rounds and spread at least 2″ apart. They will spread, so be careful not to get them too close.
8. Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
9. Cool the cookies completely before frosting.

Glaze:

1 teaspoon cream cheese or milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Whisk the lemon juice and milk / cream cheese
2. Whisk in the first cup of powdered sugar until a smooth paste forms. Add more powdered sugar until it’s spreadable but thick.
3. Place cookies on a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Spoon one teaspoon on each cookie and allow it to spread and harden on each cookie. Takes between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how warm or dry your place is.
4. Eat!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 and is filed under blogpost, food, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.