Saturday, June 22, 2013

Glazed Lemon Lavender Cookies

While gardening today I was thinking that something sweet sounded good – but what, oh what, to make?  Lemon is usually my “go to” flavor for the summertime.  I wanted something light, refreshing and not my normal (although delicious) lemon cake.  Ah Ha!  Lemon Cookies sounded yummy!  So, I scoured the internet and pinterest and saw quite a few recipes that I liked.  Several of them began with a lemon cake mix – and while that sounded easy, I didn’t want to go to the store, so I continued looking for “from scratch” options.  This recipe is a combination of two that I found.  Refreshingly sweet and extremely satisfying.
 
Ingredients:


2 cups flour (all-purpose, spooned and leveled)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lavender buds
Lemon Glaze – recipe at bottom
 
Directions:
 
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, lavender buds and lemon zest. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until combined. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture.
 
Step 2
Scoop dough with a teaspoon and roll into balls.  Place 1 inch apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool 2 minutes on sheets, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread cookies with Lemon Glaze and let set, about 1 hour.
 
Lemon Glaze
 
Ingredients
 
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
 
Directions
 
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, and fresh lemon juice until smooth.

 
Glaze cookies on a rack to allow excess glaze to drip off.  I actually dipped each cookie in the glaze and then spooned the excess glaze on top of each to fill in any missing spots.