Queen Mother Blog

One of my favoritest chain restaurants is Maggiano's. We like to go with another couple and get the all-you-can-eat "family-style" deal. I don't know how I stumbled across it, because with other desserts staring me in the face, what made me choose lemon cookies? But one time I did go ahead and pick them as one of the desserts, Vera's Lemon Cookies (to be precise), and I have been super-hooked ever since. They are little crescent shaped iced lemon cookies that just fall apart in your mouth after you dip 'em in your coffee...mmm.

Well, in my constant quest for a delicious lemon cookie, I decided to try the recipe from December's issue of Real Simple magazine. As a disclaimer I'm going to say that I *cannot* bake at ALL. Poor Marc asked me to make brownies to bring to his Bible group on Thursday and sadly he brought a pan of undercooked brownie goo. I can cook well, but just no luck with baking.

Soooo, YES! Those cookies in the picture are mine. I really made them and they are super cute looking and delicious! I am VERY proud of myself, can you tell? I ate tons of them tonight and there are still a bunch left. There's no fancy ingredients and it only uses one juicy lemon, so these would also be frugal little cookies to give as gifts. Don't worry about the icing getting messed up in your packaging, it will harden to a shiny glaze.

Here is the recipe, thanks to Real Simple magazine:

Glazed Lemon Cookies

3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t kosher salt
2 cups a/p flour
1 c confectioners' sugar
2 T fresh lemon juice (more if necessary)
1 t grated lemon zest (zest your lemon before you juice it)

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt and beat to combine. (from me- I did not have kosher salt and I'm pretty sure my butter was salted, so I just threw a tiny pinch of table salt.) Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Divide the dough in half and shape into 1 1/4 inch-diameter logs. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. (me again- my dough was very dry and I couldn't get it into a log shape for anything. I rolled it into two balls of dough and refrigerated...in Saran wrap because I didn't have any wax paper...I know, I'm like MacGyver!)

Heat oven to 350 F. Slice the logs into 3/8" thick pieces (I rolled little balls and flattened them) and space them 1 1/2" inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets (yeah, no parchment either, it was fine.). Bake until lightly golden, 16-20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and zest until it forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more lemon juice if necessary). Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.

Note, instead of refrigerating the dough, freeze the logs for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, cutting and baking the dough from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

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Ta-da! I hope you like them as much as I do. I really think they'd be a nice addition to your Christmas cookies. Love, Bay