Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Lemon Cookies to soothe my soul

Long time no see, huh? No, I didn't drop off the face of the planet (though at times, it sure felt like it). It has been two weeks since my last post, which makes me sad. My family has been going through a lot over these past two weeks, though, and I just haven't had the time do bake or to post. To give you the abridged version....I *may* have breast cancer (we'll find out after my biopsy later this week), my daughter was in the ER because they *thought* she had a serious blood platelet disorder (turns out she didn't), I had to take my Mom to the hospital because she *thought* she had a heart attack (turns out she didn't), and so much more!

So, the first "free" moment I had....I landed myself in the kitchen.....baking lemon sandwich cookies. YUM!

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These were easy to make and they are delicious! If you like lemon (or love it...the way we do), you'll definitely have to try these. If you don't like rolling dough into a log, you could easily roll it out flat and use a cookie cutter. If that isn't your thing either, you could just roll the dough into balls in your hands and flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Either method should warrant great (and yummy) results.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Icing (filling)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp lemon extract
1 cup powdered sugar (I used a little more than this, but you can do it to your desired consistency)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add flour (dough will still be stiff and somewhat crumbly); finish mixing with a wooden spoon.


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Turn half of the dough onto a piece of foil or plastic wrap, bring two opposite edges of the foil up and form a log. (Repeat with second half of dough) Wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour (and up to 3 days).

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Unwrap dough; cut into 1/4" slices. Place 1 inch apart on two baking sheets; sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired. Bake until barely beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

While your cookies are cooling, you can make the filling/icing. Mix ingredients together until desired consistency.

Form sandwiches: Place about 1 teaspoon filling between two cookies, sugared sides facing out; squeeze gently.

I ended up getting about 20 sandwiches out of this recipe.....though I rolled my dough pretty fat/thick, so if you made longer, skinnier logs, you could easily get more than that....but we like big, fat cookies!

Enjoy!
-Erica