Lemon Meltaway Cookies #LemonWeek

Welcome to day 4 of #LemonWeek 2021 hosted by Lynn from Fresh April Flours!  What better way to welcome summer than with over 50 recipes featuring bright and sunny lemons? Come join me and my fellow Lemon Week bloggers as we bring you recipes from appetizers to drinks to entrées and desserts!

I am super excited to be sharing four new lemony recipes with you this week - I love cooking and baking with lemon. It's one of my very favorite flavors - it adds such a punch and brightens up any dish. Lemon poppy seed has LONG been a favorite quick bread of mine, and homemade vinaigrettes with lemon are always a go-to. Lemon juice finds it's way into many, many sauces and dishes that grace my kitchen and I can't wait to get some new ideas courtesy of all the lovely bloggers joining in this week to highlight the lemon! On Monday, I shared some lemony chicken thighs, on Tuesday it was all about the salmon, and today these gorgeous irresistibly tender lemony cookies!

These cookies are so tender and buttery - they're delicious without the glaze, but the glaze really punches up the lemon flavor and sweetness and makes these the most delightful cookie to serve with your tea, or the perfect summery cookie to enjoy and share! Gift these to some of the teachers in your life as the school year comes to a close, take some to the pool to share with friends, send a batch to your parents - or (I won't tell) enjoy every single one of them yourself. If you enjoy buttery lemony cookies, these are a perfectly easy recipe that results in a really tasty treat!

Thursday #LemonWeek Recipes

• Triple Lemon Cupcakes by Fresh April Flours
• Double Lemon Glazed Cookies by House of Nash Eats
• Fish Fillets with Lemon Wine Sauce by That Recipe
• Spaghetti al Limone by A Day In The Life On The Farm
• Best Blueberry Lemon Scones by SueBee Homemaker
• Lemon Meltaway Cookies by Making Miracles
• Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette by Magical Ingredients
• Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting by Devour Dinner

Lemon Meltaway Cookies 


Ingredients
1 cup butter softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg large
1/4 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp dried lemon zest (or 1 tsp fresh)
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt


Glaze Ingredients
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS heavy cream or milk
⅛ tsp salt


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and the sugar together, starting low and moving to high speed until lightened in color and creamy.
3. Add in the egg, and blend until well combined, scraping down the sides and bottom if needed.
4. Add in the lemon extract and lemon zest and blend. Add in the baking powder and salt and blend.
5. Slowly, on low speed, add in the flour a little at a time, until it is well combined and you have a nice thick cookie dough - scrape down the sides and bottom as you go to be sure all the butter mixture incorporates into the flour.
6. Use a 1 1/2 TBS cookie scoop to scoop out 24 cookie balls, then roll them lightly and pat gently to create a slightly flattened disc. Bake, 12 cookies at a time for 8-9 minutes in the preheated oven until the bottoms are just BARELY browned. Cool on the sheet 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack to complete cooling. 
7. Refrigerate dough between batches if needed.
8. When the cookies are cool, make the glaze by whisking all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl - sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, heavy whipping cream, and salt. 
9. Gently dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze and set back on the cooling rack to dry.


Recipe adapted from Easy Family Recipes