Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

It must be said, these cookies are to die for! They are sweet and tart, light yet shortbread-like and dense, crisp but melt on the tongue tender... seriously there is nothing about these cookies that is not to love. (Oh, alright a poppy seed or two may - on occasion - get stuck in a most unfortunate spot in your teeth, but that is hardly a reason not to like them!). These little babies have even converted the most particular, chocolate-chip-cookie-aficionado, traditional, stubborn, cookie critic to date - and, in my humble opinion, that is pretty noteworthy.

As I mentioned in my previous post, these cookies are magic. Like their cake-y counter parts they satisfy the pallet most deliciously. You may not know this but I am a HUGE fan of lemon poppy seed - anything really. Muffins, cakes, cupcakes and loaves, and now, I am pleased to say, cookies. I could go on about how amazing they were (by-the-by, they didn’t last long!), but that would make for a pretty boring post - so I won’t. You’ll just have to take my word on it this time. So instead I’ll just let you in on a few of the issues I faced making them, and what I didn’t to make them that little bit better.

Well, honestly now that I think about it I really only faced one problem, the final texture/consistency. I imagined they would be firm like a shortbread, a type of cookie-cutter or slice and bake, but when I finished with them they rather resembled muffin batter. I wasn’t very impressed, a little worried too! I could hardly even handle spooning the dough on to the cookie sheet, let alone having to roll them into 1/4” balls. That wasn’t going to happen. So I started by adding a third of a cup - almost to the right texture, but not quite - I added a second third of a cup and that seemed to rectify the problem perfectly. The cookies, as repeatedly mentioned above, came out excellently!

Oh, right - I also bumped up the lemon volume by an entire extra tsp of zest. The way I see it, you can’t go wrong with a little extra lemon-zing. Do as you wish though, up it some more, or half it (oh dear gawd - please don’t half the zest!!! I take that back immediately, before any cookies are sacrificed)

Yep, those were the only alterations. You are now well equipped to go forth and BAKE!

Geniet Van! (Dutch for enjoy - why, I don’t know. Might just make this a recurring feature...who knows!)

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart’s Holiday Cookies

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup butter, unsalted (but if you use lightly salted omit salt)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp lemon zest + 1/2 tsp extra for topping

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

1 Tbsp poppy seeds + extra for topping

Preheat oven to 350℉.

In a small saucepan, bring lemon juice to a simmer and let reduce by half. Once it has reduced add half a cup of butter and let melt, remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In another bowl whisk remaining 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar together until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg and melted lemon-butter mixture, beat on medium-high with an electric mixer for 3 minutes, or until very light and pale in colour. Mix in vanilla, poppy seeds and 4 tsp of lemon zest, once combined add dry ingredients and mix on low until smooth, you may need to stir in the last 1/3 to 2/3 of a cup by hand. Blend until smooth.

In a plate, combine the remaining 1/4 of sugar with 1/2 tsp of lemon zest. Roll small balls of dough and place on a prepared cookie sheet, keep fairly separated. Using a very slight moist glass, dip the bottom into sugar mixture and flatten cookies, follow by sprinkling a few poppy seeds over the top.

Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until perfectly golden around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack, where they will test your will power, cooling completely before you dig in!

Mmm...

03.05.2008

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies