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With the powdered sugar coating, you will expect a sweet taste to settle on your tongue. Your tastebuds are in for a surprise!
I wanted to accentuate the lemony taste of the lemon cookies. The idea to add a touch of citric acid to the icing sugar came about as I add citric acid to my homemade iced lemon tea. I like the tart taste.
Most recipes will suggest icing the cookies with a lemon icing to heighten the taste of lemons. I do not like to add icing on cookies. It makes stacking of cookies in jars pretty gooey and messy as I live in an area with high humidity. Powdering them was the alternative.
The end result is a tart, lemony, crispy cookie. No one will mistake this for anything other than a lemon cookie.
My family and friends know that if they want to eat these cookies, they have to come over. They taste just as good a week after baking so it actually makes for a great make in advance kind of cookies for gifting.
I don't ever bake these to give away. Why? I only bake a manageable quantity of these as I do not like to work with confectioner's sugar. It gets all over the kitchen.
I am sure you are a neater baker than me so please bake them to give away. Your family and friends who are into lemon cookies will love these wonderfully lemony cookies.
CRISP LEMON BISCUITS
Prep:
|
15 minutes
|
Cook: | 12 to 14 minutes |
Inactive: | 2 hours |
Level: | Easy |
Makes: | 60 cookies (about 1 and 1/2" [4 cm] round cookies) |
Oven Temperature: | 320 F (160 C) |
Can recipe be doubled? | Yes |
Make ahead? | Cookie dough can be made and chilled up to 2 days in the chiller and frozen up to 2 weeks in the freezer. Stored in air tight jars, baked cookies tastes just as fresh a week after baking. |
Ingredients
For the dough
4 oz (110 g) unsalted butter
I use butter with a butterfat content of at least 82 to 83%. European butters typically have butterfat that falls within these percentages. I am partial to the French brand, President for baking these cookies. Whichever brand of butter you choose to use, it must have at least a minimum of 82% butterfat.The higher butterfat and lower water content content means a more buttery and crisp cookie. Buy a good tasting butter to begin with as it will highlight both the butter and the lemon.
2.5 oz (70 g) caster sugar
1 teaspoons lemon zest (from approximately 2 lemons)
1 teaspoons lemon zest (from approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure lemon extract
Dr Oetker is the brand I prefer. It is oil and not alcohol based, mixed with just the extract of lemons.
Dr Oetker is the brand I prefer. It is oil and not alcohol based, mixed with just the extract of lemons.
5.5 oz (160 g) all-purpose/plain flour
1 Tablespoon rice flour
This is that extra something that will make the cookies that extra bit more crispy.
1/8 teaspoon salt
Omit if you are using salted butter
For the Sour Lemon Sugar Coating
1 cup Icing/Confectioner's sugar
3/4 teaspoons citric acid
This is a naturally occurring fruit acid. It is sold in the form of tiny crystals and adds a tartness to food. It is also used as a preservative and you will often see it labelled as an ingredient in drinks, jams, canned food, etcetera. In a pinch, you could use it in place of lemons to sour up a sauce or dressing. You should find this in the baking aisles of supermarkets.
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from approximately 4 lemons)
Zest an hour earlier and set aside for it to dry throughly
a pinch or two of fine salt
1 Tablespoons edible gold glitter (optional)
For the Sour Lemon Sugar Coating
1 cup Icing/Confectioner's sugar
3/4 teaspoons citric acid
This is a naturally occurring fruit acid. It is sold in the form of tiny crystals and adds a tartness to food. It is also used as a preservative and you will often see it labelled as an ingredient in drinks, jams, canned food, etcetera. In a pinch, you could use it in place of lemons to sour up a sauce or dressing. You should find this in the baking aisles of supermarkets.
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from approximately 4 lemons)
Zest an hour earlier and set aside for it to dry throughly
a pinch or two of fine salt
1 Tablespoons edible gold glitter (optional)
Method
Making the cookie dough
Add the butter to the mixer bowl and let it soften to room temperature. Set aside.
Sift the all-purpose/plain flour, rice flour and salt together. Set aside.
Add sugar to the soften butter. Attach the whisk attachment and turn on the mixer to medium high speed and whisk until pale, light and creamy.
Turn speed down to medium low and add the 1/2 egg yolk. Let the mixer run for 1 minute. Turn off the mixer. Quickly scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the lemon zest and lemon extract. Turn on the mixer and let it run at medium low for 1 minute to incorporate everything well.
Switch to a paddle attachment if you have one, if not continue using the whisk attachment.
Turn the machine back on to low speed, gradually add in the sifted flours and salt. It should take about 1 minute. Turn off the mixer before the flours are completely mixed in. Incorporate the rest of the flours with a spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl as you go and folding the batter over itself as you do. It should not take more than 30 seconds. Do not over mix or your cookie might not be as light.
If the dough looks too sticky, add 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose/plain flour at a time. Go slow on the flour. You want to add just enough so that it isn't sticky looking. The dough in the photograph above still has a tiny bit of flour left, that is fine.
Rolling dough into logs
Lay out an arm's length of plastic wrap on your work surface. Transfer the dough on it and with a bench scrapper, shape into a rough log with a diameter of 2" (5 cm). Next, use the plastic wrap to enclose and roll the dough, shaping it into a cylindrical log. Twist the plastic ends closed and tucked under the dough log to secure.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm dough thoroughly or up to 2 days. If not, freeze up to 2 weeks. Read how you should refrigerate the dough and why you should not refrigerate any longer than 2 weeks by scrolling down to 'Tips'.
To get round cookies
Line the inside of a cardboard tube taken from a roll of paper kitchen towel with parchment paper. Secure one end of the tube with plastic wrap. Sit the tube upright, secured plastic end resting on your work surface.
Spoon the cookie dough into the tube. As you fill, press the cookie dough down lightly with the flat end of a rolling pin lined with plastic wrap. Once filled, cover the top with a layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate. Depending on the size of your cardboard tube, you might need either one or two cardboard tubes for this recipe.
Refrigerate as indicated above.
Lay out an arm's length of plastic wrap on your work surface. Transfer the dough on it and with a bench scrapper, shape into a rough log with a diameter of 2" (5 cm). Next, use the plastic wrap to enclose and roll the dough, shaping it into a cylindrical log. Twist the plastic ends closed and tucked under the dough log to secure.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm dough thoroughly or up to 2 days. If not, freeze up to 2 weeks. Read how you should refrigerate the dough and why you should not refrigerate any longer than 2 weeks by scrolling down to 'Tips'.
Line the inside of a cardboard tube taken from a roll of paper kitchen towel with parchment paper. Secure one end of the tube with plastic wrap. Sit the tube upright, secured plastic end resting on your work surface.
Spoon the cookie dough into the tube. As you fill, press the cookie dough down lightly with the flat end of a rolling pin lined with plastic wrap. Once filled, cover the top with a layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate. Depending on the size of your cardboard tube, you might need either one or two cardboard tubes for this recipe.
Refrigerate as indicated above.
Slicing the cookie dough for baking
Five to ten minutes before you are ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Remove the plastic wrap/parchment paper and cut the dough log into 0.15" (0.4 cm) thick slices. Place them on silpat or parchment paper lined baking trays. Leave a 0.4" to 0.8" (1 cm to 2 cm) gap between cookies.
If at any point you feel the dough has become too soft to cut neatly, return it to the refrigerator to firm up.
Cut cookies, must be refrigerated if they are not baked immediately. Left on the work surface, they will start to melt and this will affect the texture of the cookies.
To keep the cookies as round as possible, turn the circular log of cookie dough a little each time you cut off a 0.15" (0.4 cm) slice. This way, you do not put undue pressure on one particular length of the dough and end up with a flat sided round cookie.
Cut cookies, must be refrigerated if they are not baked immediately. Left on the work surface, they will start to melt and this will affect the texture of the cookies.
Stamping the cookie dough for baking
Besides slicing the cookies off the log, you could also choose to stamp balls of dough with a cookie stamp. My terra cotta cookie stamps measure 2" (5 cm) in diameter. Slice off a 0.2" (0.5 cm) thick slice and lay it on the silpat or parchment paper lined baking tray. Push in the edges to form a squat circle.
Besides slicing the cookies off the log, you could also choose to stamp balls of dough with a cookie stamp. My terra cotta cookie stamps measure 2" (5 cm) in diameter. Slice off a 0.2" (0.5 cm) thick slice and lay it on the silpat or parchment paper lined baking tray. Push in the edges to form a squat circle.
I have found that the best way to get clear imprints on the cookies is to work with chilled dough and to loosely lay a square of plastic wrap over the squat circle of dough and then emboss the dough with the cookie stamp. Do not bother flouring or oiling the stamps as they do nothing to stop the dough from sticking to the recesses of the debossed surface. Plastic wrap is the way to go. All that flouring will ruin the taste and texture of the cookies.
Baking
Bake the cookies at 320 F (160 C) for 7 minutes, oven rack at lower middle position. Then rotate the cookie tray front side back and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden brown. The tops will probably still be mostly pale or perhaps a little golden brown along the circumference.
Remove from the oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Store in air tight jars.
Making the Sour Lemon Sugar Coating
Whizz the ingredients (except the edible gold glitter) for the Sour Lemon Sugar Coating in a food processor. Whizz until very fine. Watch that your food processor doesn't start to heat up or your sugar mix might start to melt and clump. For this reason, transfer the sugar mix into a plastic bag. Leave it open and set aside.
Dusting the cookies
When the cookies are still very slightly warm, drop the cookies one at a time in the bag of sugar mix to coat thoroughly. The cookies are fragile and will likely break if you drop too many cookies in the bag of sugar mix. Transfer each powdered cookie back to the wire cooling rack.
When all the powdered cookies have been transferred back to the wire cooling rack, use a medium mesh (larger perforated holes) sieve and dust them again with the sugar mix. A fine mesh sieve will not do as it will not allow the bits of lemon zest to be sifted through.
If serving them straight away, sprinkle with edible gold glitter.
If not, store in airtight jars.
Store the access Sour Lemon Sugar Coating for dusting a fresh coat of powdered sugar each time you serve the cookies or use them in your cup of tea.
Tips
Whizz the ingredients (except the edible gold glitter) for the Sour Lemon Sugar Coating in a food processor. Whizz until very fine. Watch that your food processor doesn't start to heat up or your sugar mix might start to melt and clump. For this reason, transfer the sugar mix into a plastic bag. Leave it open and set aside.
Dusting the cookies
When the cookies are still very slightly warm, drop the cookies one at a time in the bag of sugar mix to coat thoroughly. The cookies are fragile and will likely break if you drop too many cookies in the bag of sugar mix. Transfer each powdered cookie back to the wire cooling rack.
When all the powdered cookies have been transferred back to the wire cooling rack, use a medium mesh (larger perforated holes) sieve and dust them again with the sugar mix. A fine mesh sieve will not do as it will not allow the bits of lemon zest to be sifted through.
If serving them straight away, sprinkle with edible gold glitter.
If not, store in airtight jars.
Store the access Sour Lemon Sugar Coating for dusting a fresh coat of powdered sugar each time you serve the cookies or use them in your cup of tea.
Tips
Bear in mind that this cookie dough is essentially a lemon flavoured butter dough. Butter dough will soak in like a sponge, any surrounding scents in the refrigerator/freezer. So if you cannot guarantee an odour free refrigerator/freezer, bake the cookies as soon as you can.
The flip side is that the baked cookies keep very well without refrigeration for at least a week in an airtight container kept away from heat and direct light source so it can be made in advance without affecting its taste and texture.
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
It seems almost nonsensical to post a recipe about iced lemon tea but with so many lemons left after baking the lemon cookies and with still more citric acid, it would be logical to move on to using up the lemons in a quick and simple way.
We used up all the lemon zest so we cannot bake lemon puddings or lemon meringue pies, at least not for the moment!
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