This is THE cookie of the season as far as we are concerned. (Juliet and I did some rigorous testing. We have three extra pounds between us to prove it.)
Cookies, by the way, are believed to have been a delicious invention of bakers hundreds of years ago as a tool for checking oven temperatures.
Blue Cayenne is fortunate to have an onsite oven tester, our Chief Quality Officer (CQO), Sweet Juliet.
Here is a photo of Blue Cayenne’s chief cookie tester in her season’s finery–deep in thought, no doubt, about those lemon cookies.
This Lemon Meltaway recipe is a Yossy Arefi recipe from The New York Times. You can find the original recipe here. Arefi is a gifted baker who, in addition to writing for The Times, is the author of two wonderful cookbooks, Sweeter Off The Vine and Snacking Cakes. Both books are available on Amazon here.
Lemon Meltaways
Ingredients
- 1 C. unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 C. powdered sugar
- 1 T. lemon zest
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
- 2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 C. cornstarch
- 1/2 t. kosher salt
Directions
- Step 1 Combine butter, 1 1/4 C. powdered sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of your stand mixer. You can use a bit more zest or lemon juice if you want to give your cookies a stronger lemon flavor. At the listed amounts, the lemon flavor is wonderfully subtle. Use the paddle attachment. Mix at a low speed until the sugar is moistened. Turn the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to beat for about 3 minutes. You want the mixture to be a lighter color and to become aerated and fluffy.
- Step 2 Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the lemon juice and the egg yolk. Continue to mix to combine.
- Step 3 With your mixer set on a low speed, add the flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Step 4 Divide your cookie dough into two equal parts and scrape it onto lengths of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Wrap the wrap around the dough and form it into a cylinder. You want the wrapped dough cylinder to be approximately 1 1/2 inches wide. Rolling the cylinder on your counter will help round it. Chill. The original recipe says to chill the dough for at least 2 hours. I chilled my dough overnight.
- Step 5 To bake the cookies, heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment or a baking liner like a Silpat.
- Step 6 Slice the dough into 1/4 inch rounds. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on your cookie sheets. Bake. My cookies took about 15 minutes to bake, but, of course, ovens vary. Watch your cookies carefully for the first batch. You want the cookies to be slightly brown on the edges and the bottom.
- Step 7 Remove cookies from the oven and cool on a rack. Dust cookies with powdered sugar. These cookies will keep their crisp texture for several days when stored in an airtight container.
