Very Lemon Butter Crisps are all they promise. Lemon cookies are often rather bland. Many are flavored with lemon juice, but a couple of tablespoons will not flavor a cookie with flour and butter. Lemon zest goes a long way to help if enough is used but by adding lemon extract you get a really full flavored cookie.
I found there is a difference between the strengths of lemon extracts. I made the cookies with Spice Island Pure Lemon Extract and Penzy's Pure Lemon Extract. Penny's had a deeper flavor which I prefer for these cookies.
The dough for the Very Lemon Butter Crisps dough can be used for stamped cookies, rolled into a log and sliced or rolled out for cut out cookies. They are topped with sanding sugar which can be found in kitchen supply stores, grocery stores and on the net. It won't melt when baked as regular sugar will. These are a crisp, but sturdy cookie ideal for shipping and sharing.
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There are a number of places to get cookie stamps and they can be ceramic, wood, plastic, almost anything. At the end of the recipe I list a several places to get them.
My stamps were gotten probably 50 years ago at a craft fair. I love them because they are hand made and came in a little blue printed bag. These were bought when cookie stamps were rare. Today they seem to be the newest items in cookies. Mine work best if the dough is chilled to keep it from sticking to the cutter. To help prevent this, even if the dough is chilled, I dip them into sanding sugar before stamping the cookie.
They came in a little bag for storage.
However you make these Very Lemon Butter Crisps, they insure a burst of lemon in every bite.
Last but not least, these store in an airtight container almost forever. AND the flavor improves as you keep them. So think in terms of the holidays, when you don't have time to make cookies for yourself or for gifts. These can be made 6 weeks ahead and stored making cookies for yourself or for giving on a moments notice.
Very Lemon Butter Crisps
3 cups all purpose flour (420 grams or 15 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened (225 grams or 8 ounces)
1 cup sugar (200 grams or 7 ounces)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Sanding sugar as needed
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment. Double pan them and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
Cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until completely combined.
Add the lemon zest and lemon extract.
Add the flour and mix until combined. Use as directed below,
For Stamped Cookies:
In the photo above you can see all of the steps for the stamped Very Lemon Butter Crisps. The dough is scooped out, rolled into balls, rolled in sanding sugar, pressed with the stamp and the stamped cookies.
The dough balls must be cold for the stamp to work well. Scoop balls of dough with a #70 disher. Roll the scoops into balls and roll the balls in sanding sugar. Press the stamp into sugar and then flatten the balls with the cookie stamp. Carefully, remove the cookie by peeling it off the stamp.
Double Pan and bake 16 to 18 minutes the cookies are a medium golden brown.
Yield: About 60 two inch cookies.
Cut Out Cookies:
Divide the cold dough into 4 pieces. Keep the other pieces refrigerated and working with one piece at a time, place it between sheets of waxed paper and roll to about ¼ inch thick. Cut out cookies as desired.
Refrigerate or better yet freeze the cookies until hard. The cookies can easily be lifted off with a spatula. The edges will be clean and sharp.
Top with sanding sugar.
Double Pan and bake 16 to 18 minutes the cookies are a medium golden brown.
Yield: Depends upon the size of the cookie cutter.
Roll Cookies:
Roll the dough into several logs about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Chill until firm.
Slice about ¼ inch thick, dip tops into sanding sugar.
Double Pan and bake 16 to 18 minutes the cookies are a medium golden brown.
Yield: About 60 cookies
Some places you can find cookie stamps:
Cookie Stamps
https://www.crateandbarrel.com/search?query=Cookie%20stamp
https://www.amazon.com/JBK-Pottery-Cookie-Stamp-Set/dp/B000E6Q22K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459692108&sr=8-1&keywords=wilton+cookie+stamps - several kinds
Google cookie stamps for a huge variety of stamps listed by the kind of material you want them made of. Click on the photos stamped cookies.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/geometric-cookie-stamps
https://www.cookiestamp.com/page/397361890 12 stamps mounted on a wall hanging board
https://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1365386/Nordic+Ware+Heirloom+Cookie+Stamps+Set+of+3
Meggie says
Helen, did you try rubbing the lemon zest and sugar together to get more flavor imbued from the zest? I find that if i add zest as an ingredient those oils get lost and coated with fat in the recipe. But if I rub the ils out into the sugar, it carries the oil from the zest fully into the recipe. Just wondering if you tried. I know you do several run throughs before posting.
hfletcher says
Hi Meggie - I haven't done that for this recipe. I'll bet placing the sugar and lemon zest in a processor would accomplish this nicely. How do you do it?
eileen says
I made these this weekend. They are wonderful! Helen, thanks for another cookie recipe to add to my repertoire.
hfletcher says
Hi Eileen - So happy you enjoy them. Leave them in a tin for a few days and they develop even more flavor. I made these for a party we had at the restaurant and hid them. If I don't hid them the staff gets into them. Well, they forgot to use them and I didn't find them for months. When I opened them they were even better. So these are a great cookie to mail or to use for the holidays because they can be made so far in advance. Just be sure to send them!!
Ingrid says
Hello Helen,
Thank you for the lovely recipe. Looks delicious.
Would this dough, rolled, be suitable to freeze? I like to have cookie dough in the freezer, ready to be sliced and baked fresh when I need it.
hfletcher says
Hi Ingrid: It will freeze and quite nicely. All of the cookie dough I used was frozen and then thawed to roll out for the rolled cookies and the stamped cookie. I froze the log of dough for the sliced cookies and thawed it in the refrigerator to slice it.
Karen McCreary says
Great lemon cookie recipe & advice. Struggling with sanding sugar . The heart shaped cookies and rolled/sliced cookies look like they have sparkling coarse sugar on them but the stamped cookies look like they might have had the superfine sugar used . I recently used the superfine on paczki (Polish Easter treat) and it didn't dissolve which was PERFECT . They are like a jelly doughnut and get tossed with the superfine sugar. Would this work on the lemon cookies ? The coarse comes in a little bottle and I need a source for a larger amount of the sanding sugar . I've been looking for quite awhile. YOU are the best !
hfletcher says
Hi Karen - all of the cookies use the sanding sugar. The stamped cookies are rolled in sanding sugar before stamping. The stamping imbeds the sugar so it isn't as sparkly but provides the crunch. If you go online there are many sources of sanding sugar. Here is just one source and it is very reasonable. I have no idea if the superfine would work or not. I know regular granulated sugar does not provide the crunch which is what I am after here. I doubt the super fine would offer that crunch either but I haven't used it. In any event, it can't hurt.