Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Remember my recipe for blueberry lemon poppy seed cake? These cookies are similar. They just don't have blueberries. And they're not a cake. They're cookies! Lemon poppy seed cookies! Cake is dee-licious, but cookies? Cookies are special. Cuz they're so cute. They're little bites of delicious cuteness. And I prefer cookie texture (chewy cookies for life) to cake texture. Am I picking favorites? Well, I guess I am!
I'll just come out and say it then: I declare, right here, right now, that cookies are cuter than cake, and cookies have a better texture than cake, and therefore, I like cookies better than cake.
Also, isn't "cookies" one of the best words in the English language? Cookies! People's voices always tend to get one iota squeakier when they say the word "cookies." Because everyone thinks they're cute, not just me.
Back to these lemon poppy seed cookies. They're light and lemony and little (alliteration queen right here). They're little because I make them little, because then they're cuter. Take a little teaspoon of dough, roll it into a little ball, let it flatten in the oven into a little perfectly round disc, pop that little disc into your mouth - whoops, I'm forgetting about the icing.
When you taste a cookie on its own, it is very little and delicious. And sweet. So you might think: "These little, delicious lemon cookies are sweet enough on their own, so an icing will make them TOO sweet." Which is exactly what my brother said when he ate one. (Okay, maybe he didn't say "these little, delicious cookies." Maybe he said: "Uh, the cookies are good. Why would you have to go and ruin them with an unnecessary icing?" But I can't help it if my brain blocked out what he said as a survival mechanism because the experience was too traumatic and the words too hurtful.) However, when I added the lemon glaze and my brother ate another cookie, he said: "Yeah, fine, whatever, they're not too sweet. But don't ask me how."
Don't ask me how either (it's a mystery to this day). But somehow, the icing just complements the cookies perfectly and doesn't make them taste like lemon sugar cubes sliding down your throat.
Make the cookies and you'll see the magic for yourself.
Lemon poppy seed cookies
Adapted from the cookbook "Cooking With Color Desserts"
Yield: About 25 cookies
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
Lemon Glaze:
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Zest of one lemon
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg and extracts.
Mix in the dry ingredients. Zest the lemon and add in.
Shape teaspoons of dough into balls and place on baking sheet (don't flatten).
Bake 8-10 minutes, till bottoms of the cookies are lightly golden (the less time you bake them, the softer they'll be).
Lemon Glaze: Whisk together glaze ingredients. Once cookies are cooled, dip the tops of the cookies into icing to coat (see photo above). Let harden.
On a completely unrelated note, I die:
photo from dumpaday dot com
