At Christmas time we often eat so much rich food. Which is a great treat, of course. But just sometimes we need something that it not so rich. These Glazed Lemon Cookies are just that. They work so well as a little treat, but also to cleanse the palate when necessary. Though with the lemon flavour they are hardly neutral as with most palate cleansers.
But for whatever purpose one might wish to make these at Christmas they are so easy to make and such a delightful treat in the mouth.
With very few ingredients it is possible to make a really lovely cookie which can be enjoyed at any time. They can also be bagged and presented as little gifts too, if desired. I am sure that anyone would love to receive some.
The recipe is very simple indeed. Mix very soft butter with sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest and then stir in some flour. Form the mixture into a dough and divide into 40 small balls. Flatten the balls a little and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, depending how hot your oven tends to run. The important thing is to ensure the dough is baked through, without being baked until the cookies are hard.
As the cookies bake a simple glaze of icing sugar and lemon juice can be made. While the cookies are still warm from the oven they will be brushed with the glaze.
Baking Time
One tip for ensuring the best baking time is to bake just one cookie for 10 minutes then let it rest, as it will be very soft, for a couple of minutes and carefully check the underside. If it is fully cooked underneath that will be fine. If the underside seems to be slightly damp it is not yet fully cooked so you will need another couple of minutes in the oven. From that you can decide how long your cookies will need to be in the oven.
Of course, if you wish for a more crisp, biscuit-like texture you can bake for longer still.
My Cookies
I did a test run on my cookies and decided that 10 minutes would be long enough.
Then I took them out of the oven and left them on the baking tray for a couple of minutes. They were very soft and delicate when they came out of the oven. So they definitely need to set up with that little bit of time.
I used a cookie spatula, which is a very thin one, with a fine edge to lift the cookies onto a wire rack. If you don’t have a fine edge tool that you can use to lift the cookies let them cool for longer on the baking tray.
Then, while the cookies were still warm I gently brushed the glaze over the top. That glaze set nicely in a short time. So I was able to have a taste. What a treat they were. Small, soft and so fully of that sweet but tart lemony flavour.
The cookies are small, just one or two bites, but they pack a flavour punch that is very satisfying.
Another quick and easy recipe is Fruity Oat Cookies.
Glazed Lemon Cookies – Quick & Easy
Course: Biscuits, Cookies40
servings10
minutes10
minutesIngredients
150g(1 cup, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour
125g(9 tbsp minus 1/2 tsp) very soft unsalted butter
75g(6 tbsp) caster sugar( I used a combination of caster sugar and vanilla sugar – see note below)
zest from one lemon
2 x 15ml(1 tbsp) lemon juice
50g(1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) icing sugar, sifted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/!60C Fan/350F and line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl place the butter, caster sugar 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and the lemon zest.
- Cream them together until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour and stir it in until fully combined into a dough(you can use a hand to pull into a dough).
- For ease you can divide the dough into two equal pieces.
- On a floured surface roll each piece into a sausage shape which is about 40cm(16 inches) in length.
- Cut each sausage of dough into 20 pieces, about 2 cm(3/4 inch) in length.
- Roll each piece, in lightly floured hands, into a ball and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between each.
- Press the balls to flatten them a little.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are cooked through, leave them to cool for two minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- As the cookies bake add the lemon juice to the icing sugar and stir until smooth.
- While the cookies are still warm brush the glaze over the top of them and allow it to set up before eating.
Notes
- I never throw away used vanilla pods. Instead I place them in a jar of caster sugar. Over time the vanilla flavour is infused into the sugar. I used some of that in this recipe.