Lemony Lemon Cookies
Yesterday John and I passed the morning in the doctor’s office. We’re a couple who really knows how to have a good time.
The doctor’s waiting room, a windowless, dour space, was decorated for Valentine’s Day with sparkly paper hearts, wine gift bags (in a doctor’s office?), and tinselly garlands. Face masks, tissues, and that horribly drying antimicrobial handwash completed the look. Call it “Romance Among the Flu.”
Valentine’s Day has never floated my boat. My antipathy reached its nadir during grad school, when a work-study position landed me in the student health center’s counseling unit. Most of the time the job was fine. Then February 14th rolled around, filling the office with sobbing students. “It’s Valentine’s Day!” One young man blurted, tears streaming, as I dispensed tissues and nodded sympathetically. Poor guy. So much pain over an ersatz holiday!
And here we are again, being told to either dine someplace fancy or whip up some elegantly aphrodisiac meal. And don’t forget those roses!
Being me–and also having come into dozens of ripe lemons, courtesy of the tree in our yard–I baked lemon cookies instead. These may be enjoyed regardless of romantic status.
The original recipe comes from The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook. “Joyce’s Lemon Cookies,” were the happy accident of one Joyce McGillis, who was working with Marion Cunningham on the Fannie Farmer Cookbook revision. Thinking she’d added too much lemon to the recipe, McGillis tasted and realized she had a winner.
After reducing the original 1 1/4 cups sugar to a scant 1 cup, I found myself with a moist, lemony cookie, but it wasn’t the flavor explosion I’d hoped for. Plus I was hoping to use up more lemons. By increasing the lemon juice to a 1/2 cup, I achieved the desired result: sharp lemon flavor, answered by just enough sweetness and ample butter. I include both versions here, for those who prefer their lemon cookies a bit more subtle.The recipe is, as Nigella would say, a doddle. I encourage you to try both.
A brief discussion about the dough itself. This a classic butter dough, meaning it’s a diva, very soft and difficult to handle. The original recipe calls for immediately dividing it in two and rolling it into ropes. I found this impossible; both kitchen and dough were too warm, meaning the dough was unworkably soft. Instead, I oozed it on to piece of wax paper and tucked it into the fridge, where an overnight chill made it better behaved. The next day, I divided the dough in two, and rolled it into ropes using the wax paper as guides.
Lemony Lemon Cookies
Adapted from The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook
Prep Time: 15 minutes to assemble cookie dough; 2-24 hours chilling time; 1 hour baking time
Yield: approximately 60 cookies
1 1/2 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/4-1/2 cup fresh lemon juice: about 2 medium lemons (see note)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mixture may appear curdled. That’s okay. Mix until completely integrated with butter and sugar.
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the butter in stages, mixing until blended.
Dough will be extremely soft and difficult to handle. Tear off a large piece of wax paper and place on a baking sheet. Using a spatula, transfer dough to wax paper. Wrap carefully and place in refrigerator, 2-24 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Remove dough from refrigerator and divide into two pieces. Place piece you are not working with on second piece of wax paper, wrap, and return to refrigerator. Using the wax paper as guide, roll dough into rope about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. If dough breaks or cracks, patch gently. If it becomes too soft, place in refrigerator a few minutes to firm up.
To bake, use either a Silpat, nonstick baking sheets, or parchment paper; these cookies like to stick. Using a thin-bladed, sharp knife (a chef’s knife works well for this) slice logs 1/8 inch thick and place on cookie sheet. Allow ample space between each cookie; in addition to sticking, these cookies spread while baking.
Bake 6-8 minutes. Cookies are ready when they look gold on bottom; they will appear pale, even underbaked, on top.
Cool completely on baking sheets before transferring to cooling racks, which helps prevent breakage.
Notes: 1/4 cup lemon juice leads to a perfectly nice, lemony cookie. For an intensely lemony flavor, add a 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Either path leads to lemon cookie deliciousness.
Dough is very soft and difficult to handle. Keep portions you are not working with refrigerated. Unbaked dough may be frozen, well wrapped, up to two months.
Store baked cookies in airtight tin or, if you prefer a softer cookie, in a Ziploc-style bag.
Perfect for teatime, or anytime, really. After all, doesn’t all that lemon juice mean these qualify as fruit?
P.S. Yesterday’s readership was an all-time high. Thank you so much for being here….”thank you” is actually pretty insufficient. Kind of like my kitchen. But it will have to suffice. Thank you.
