Lemon cookies (or, I am a nasty wasteful yuppie, but slick)

Tonight I have been making cookies, very good lemon cookies that are called by the author of the cookbook in which the recipe appears* "lemonade cookies," which is kind of horribly twee and unnecessary, but there you are, and I have gotten into this wonderful slick rhythm of making them which relies upon my having made the kitchen extra clean and organized, so that I have maximal counter space. I actually laid out three pieces of parchment paper and put the blobs of batter on them, all at the beginning, plus the one on the cookie sheet. Then I could do this clever little maneuver when each batch was ready where I neatly slid the parchment and cookies onto the counter, set the cookie sheet on the stovetop, brushed the cookies with the glaze, slid the cookie sheet under the next piece of parchment, gave it a little cautious tug, put the sheet in the oven, set the timer, and then turned and transferred the cookies from parchment to cooling rack. The downside of this technique is that it is wasteful of parchment, which on a different day would have made me feel terrible, but today I did not care, because the slickness was so very, very slick.

And all the dishes are in the dishwasher (oh blessed dishwasher), which I will go run now.

The cookies are pretty darn lemony and soft and delicate, but pleasantly dry and yielding-yet-resiliant on the outside, in many ways just like little hand-holdable cakes. For some reason I feel they are the kind of cookie that should be spelled "cooky." Here is how you make them:

LEMON MIXTURE
3/4 strained lemon juice
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. light corn syrup (how is it that I had corn syrup in the house? I wonder.)
1 T finely grated lemon zest

BATTER
3 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 sticks (16 T.) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs

Heat the lemon mixture ingredients, except for zest. over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature and stir in the zest. Reserve 1/3 c. of this mixture for finishing the cookies.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Lower speed and beat in half the flour mixture, then the lemon mixture (but not the reserved 1/3 cup), then the remaining flour mixture.

Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes on parchment on a sheet pan, until they have spread, risen, and turned light gold. Slide the parchment immediately off the pan and brush the cookies with the reserved lemon mixture. Transfer to racks and let cool completely before storing. It's wise to put layers of something -- that excessive parchment, perhaps, or wax paper -- between the layers of cookies.

*The Cookie Book by Nick Malgieri

Posted by redfox at April 02, 2003 11:55 PM (recipes)

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