When Life Gives You Lemons, Bake Cookies

Tuesday, July 13, 2010



When Andrew asked me to bake cookies for his office (see my last post), I immediately thought of Lemon Buttermilk Cookies.  I love these cookies.  And the recipe is – like all my favourites – really easy.  All you have to do is follow the directions.

Unfortunately I don’t always read the directions in advance, and this was one of those times. When I finally got around to icing the cookies, it was several hours later.  The directions read, “Glaze the cookies while they are still warm.”

Well, that was impossible.  Or was it?  I had just taken something else out of the oven, and it was semi-warm.  So I put these cookies back in the oven for about thirty seconds, thereby warming them up, so I could follow the directions as required.

I will say this:  properly glazed or not, my husband called me at 8:07 to tell me that all the cookies had been eaten by his coworkers.  That’s 8:07 a.m.  So either he dropped the plate on the way to work and was too embarrassed to tell me, or his coworkers really liked these cookies.  I’m going with the latter.

Like many of my favourite recipes, I’ve taken this recipe from http://pixie-baker.blogspot.com

Lemon Buttermilk Cookies

1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
½ tsp of baking soda
zest of one lemon (save the juice for the glaze)
½ tsp of kosher salt
6 Tbsp of butter, room temperature
¾ cups of granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp of almond extract
1/3 cup of buttermilk

Glaze ingredients:

1 ½ Tbsp of buttermilk
½ tsp of fresh lemon juice
¾ cup of powdered sugar

In a small bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.  Whisk in the lemon zest and kosher salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter.  Add the granulated sugar, egg and almond extract, and beat until light and fluffy.  Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate beating in with the buttermilk.  Beat until well combined.

Place dough on the cookie sheet (I made about a dozen), leaving about an inch and a half between cookies.  Bake at 350ºF for 11 – 12 minutes, then remove from oven and cool for 1 – 2 minutes on a wire rack.  Glaze the cookies while they are still warm.

To make the glaze, mix the ingredients together until smooth.  Spread or drizzle over cookies.


6 comments:

Valerie Gamine said...

Beth, I'm so glad you husband and his coworkers 'liked' these! I actually forgot how great they were (thanks for the reminder.) :D

Carla Sandrin said...

Lemon is my favourite flavour in baking, but for some reason I've only made lemon loaf and lemon squares. I will definitely try these cookies. Thanks for the recipe!

Susanne K. Fletcher said...

Looks Yummy Beth. I look forward to following your blog.... incognito that is. Don't want to ruin my new career as a Nutritionist!

Beth said...

Valerie, thanks for the inspiration. These cookies are real winners!
Carla, I love lemon recipes too. I'll be looking for more to post here.
And don't worry, "Incognito". Your secret is safe with me! (But thanks for following!)

Liz said...

Mmm, I made these a few years ago and loved them. Your post is making me want to make them again. They look fab!

Beth said...

Thanks, Liz! I'm glad you like the photo -- your pictures are a real inspiration for me.

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