Let's start with lemons. Since we will use it entirely, we need to take the washing process more seriously. It is unlikely that it grows under your house or on the windowsill (although it is possible); most likely, you bought it in a store, which means that it is definitely treated or covered with something for better preservation. Someone washes it with a brush, someone with soap or vinegar.
Personally, I always completely pour boiling water over the lemon and let it sit for about a minute. Then I take it out and rinse it again under running water, wiping it with the hard side of the sponge. I'm not sure that this will 100% help get rid of all the nastiness that covers the citrus fruit, but I hope for the best :)
Use thin-skinned lemons, otherwise our filling will be too bitter. If thin-skinned ones were not found in the store, then it is better to take only the zest and segments, removing all the white part of the peel.
I took one whole lemon and half of the second, but without the peel.
Cut off the “butt” if it is too thick. Cut the lemon and throw it into a blender along with 150 grams of sugar. We chop everything.
Next, I take a saucepan and place the contents of the blender there. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring. Place in a cool place to cool. It's winter now, so I just put my saucepan on the balcony. If you want to cool faster, pour the contents into a clean, cold bowl and place it in a larger bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes.
After cooling, our filling thickens and, when you pour it onto the surface of our dough, it will not spread like water, but will hold its shape a little like a slide.
Well, while our lemon filling is cooking and then cooling, it’s time to make the dough.
I have a stand mixer in which I knead the dough. Of course, it is better to knead with a mixer, since the butter does not come into contact with warm hands and, as a result, does not melt.
Place sour cream, egg, 50 grams of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and softened (never melted) butter in a bowl. Mix everything with a mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Sift the flour and add to the bowl. Mix until crumbly.
The mixer will not gather all the dough into a ball, so we will resort to using our hands. I simply place the contents of the bowl on the table and quickly stir, collecting everything into a lump.
It turns out very nice, like plasticine dough. Try to do everything quickly so that the butter does not start to melt when the dough touches your warm hands. In this case, the finished products will be hard.
If your lemon filling is not completely cool yet, refrigerate the dough.
As soon as the filling has cooled, roll out the dough into a wide rectangle; it will be more convenient if you do everything directly on baking paper. Roll out thinly, about 0.3-0.5 centimeters.
Spread the filling in the middle of the dough. Visually divide the dough lengthwise into three parts. The middle is the filling, and you close it with the right and left halves, making a slight overlap. Literally half a centimeter is enough.
Lift the edges too and pinch lightly so that our filling does not leak out. I go along the “seam” with a fork or my fingers, slightly flattening it.
Well, since we did everything on baking paper (I hope you took my advice), you can easily transfer everything to a baking sheet.
Be sure to prick the top (not all the way through) with a fork, otherwise it will rise and inflate.
For shortcrust pastry, it is very important that the oven is preheated as the pastry begins to set immediately. If it heats up along with the dough inside, then the butter begins to melt and come out of the dough. As a result, again, solid products.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees and place the baking sheet with the dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
For the glaze, take powdered sugar (100 grams) and add about one and a half teaspoons of lemon juice to it. It must be thick enough, otherwise it will turn out completely colorless on the product.
Next, I do this - I simply transfer the glaze into a bag, make a small hole, a couple of millimeters, and thinly squeeze it out in any pattern onto the cooled, baked dough.
Now cut the dough into squares with a sharp knife - here you have cookies with a slightly bitter-sourish, very aromatic and tasty filling.
Invite everyone over for a cup of tea. Enjoy your meal!
These lemon cookies are not at all like the lemon baked goods we are used to - using flavoring and citric acid. The taste of the cookies is very interesting - at first it feels like it’s sweet with a pronounced lemon aroma, and in the aftertaste you feel like you’ve eaten a fresh lemon. The cookies are very easy to prepare; I found the recipe in an American cookbook. And there were such beautiful pictures that I couldn’t resist the temptation to immediately try what it tasted like. What made me very happy was that the first batch was immediately snapped up by children. I put a second baking sheet in the oven, then a third... In general, a really tasty thing. And I hope you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was. For the recipe, I took a minimum of step-by-step photos, because I don’t see the point in demonstrating how the ingredients are added to the bowl one by one. It is important how the balls of dough look on the baking sheet and how they turn into cookies after being in the oven. My first batch was a little sticky. But on the second baking sheet I already corrected the mistake.
Ingredients:
- Butter 90 grams,
- Flour – 1 glass with a small slide (volume 250 ml),
- Starch - half a tablespoon,
- Sugar - half a glass + 1 tablespoon,
- Salt – 1 pinch,
- Baking powder for dough - 1 teaspoon,
- Egg – 1 piece,
- Egg yolk – 1 piece,
- Vanilla sugar – 1 sachet of 15 grams,
- Lemon juice squeezed from fresh lemon - 1 tablespoon
- Zest from 1 fresh lemon
How to make lemon cookies
Leave the butter at room temperature until soft. Wash the lemons, scald with boiling water and, without cutting, rub on a fine grater, constantly turning to remove the top bright yellow layer. Then cut 1 lemon and squeeze the juice out of it into a separate cup.
When the butter becomes soft, add sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest. Beat with a mixer for 2-3 minutes at medium speed.
Add the egg, beat until smooth, add the yolk and lemon juice. Beat until fluffy and light.
Next, put the mixer aside. Sift flour, starch, baking powder through a sieve into a bowl with dough, sprinkle with salt, mix everything with a regular spoon. Rake the dough from the bottom of the bowl up. This way the dough will mix evenly.
Place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator and turn on the oven to preheat.
Line the baking sheet with a baking mat or good parchment paper, as the dough is sticky and the cookies may stick to the baking sheet. If the dough has not had time to harden in the refrigerator, then place it on a baking sheet, scooping it with one teaspoon and removing it with the other onto the baking sheet. And if you have time, then pick up the dough with a spoon and roll into balls (as you see in the photo). The distance between the dough balls should be about 4 centimeters, because the balls spread out and greatly increase in size.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 175 degrees. Baking time varies greatly depending on your individual oven, so check the color of your first batch for doneness. They should be creamy on top and the bottoms of the cookies will be slightly golden.
When you remove the cookies, they will be soft at first, but after 15 minutes they will cool and set.
It is difficult to classify lemon cookies as seasonal, exclusively tropical, to challenge someone’s authorship and demand authenticity, to assign them to the Mediterranean or other specific cuisine. The widespread and year-round sale of citrus fruits with amazing taste, access to recipes from all over the world and the ability of every housewife to take initiative, mix, play with proportions and dosage, combine bases and innovative technologies are pushing for the next baking creation under a common, rather common, name.
The fact that cookies with lemon flavor are worth adding to the list of New Year's baking is for sure. As if snow-covered or dusted with frost, under a layer of powdered sugar, porous in the crack, tiny and riddled with zest, it is appropriate with spicy drinks: both non-alcoholic for children and hot wine-based, rich in anise, honey and cinnamon. Bake in advance and hide a delicious gift in a beautiful package under the branches of pine needles or mix it in a basket with tangerines and candies - create a festive atmosphere, full of attractive smells and at the same time a cozy atmosphere.
If you have come across shortcrust pastry for tarts, bagels, gingerbreads, or “baskets,” the recipe will seem familiar and simple to you. Only lemon has been added to the main products: zest + juice. In contrast to the sweetness, a bright, invigorating, slightly chilly note appears, because of which it is impossible to break away, hit yourself on the hands, and show moderation. Note: do not replace lemons with oranges or lime, the concentration of freshness will noticeably decrease, and the cookies themselves will lose their charm.
Cooking time: 60 minutes / Number of servings: 40-50 pcs.
Ingredients
- wheat flour 280-300 g
- eggs 1 pc.
- sugar 70-100 g
- baking powder 5 g
- butter 100 g
- salt 2 g
- lemon 1-2 pcs.
- powdered sugar 50-70 g
Preparation
The first stage of kneading, as in other types of dough, can be safely entrusted to a food processor, with which it is both faster and easier to achieve the desired plasticity. Don’t despair if you have to work with your hands - a little more physical effort and time, but as a result the properties of the shortcrust pastry will be no worse. So, in a working bowl or ladle of the unit, combine butter, a standard-sized egg, a pinch of salt, the first 200-250 g of flour, sugar.
Grind into crumbs. In my example, with the “knife” attachment for chopping, it took only a minute and a half to mix the dry ingredients with butter and egg, and then instantly collect the fine “grain”. We don’t rush to add flour or, conversely, pour in water. In different versions of lemon cookies, the dosage of wheat flour is often reduced at the expense of cornstarch. Then the texture is finer, closer to the eastern kurabye. Try, experiment, not forgetting about lemons. You can’t do without the refreshing and tonic aroma of citrus fruits.
Wash fresh lemons with a sponge, thoroughly clean the pores of the skin from dust, dry them, then remove only the top layer (zest) with thin shavings, without touching the bitter white layer. Squeeze out the juice and remove the seeds. I will say that in my recipe even one fruit was more than enough. The cookies were imbued with a lemon scent and acquired a pleasant aftertaste, without excessive harshness or bitterness.
Add the removed lemon zest and juice to the flour crumbs - start the processor again and mix with a spatula/hands. Transfer the still sticky dough onto a large surface and add a spoonful or two of flour. We continue to knead, achieving smoothness and softness, typical for shortbread dough. Sometimes they make the dough stiff, very dense, with a high flour content - the texture will change, it will be less crumbly, brittle, and will become harder, but the shape of the products will remain the same, the boundaries will not blur.
If you generously sprinkle a tabletop or board with flour, our semi-finished dough can be immediately rolled out, pressed with templates and molded into any desired shapes. That's right, after all, let it cool before slicing, so today we divide the dough approximately in half, roll it into two bars and, wrapping it in film, put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. After light freezing, the dough hardens, does not stick to the knife and punches, and becomes pliable.
We simply cut cold blanks to a width of about 4-5 mm. We leave some round, oval, bend some into slices/crescents, give the shape of a heart - homemade handmade lemon cookies are distinguished by their external “modesty” and “spirituality”. Several copies of sweets for adults are marked with thin pieces of fresh fruit; with them, baked goods are brightly decorative and invigorating with sourness. Involve children in the creative process if you are not preparing an edible secret - on the eve of the fabulous New Year holidays, joint cooking lessons are especially inspiring. We transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment, keep a distance between the rows - bake for about 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees, preheat the oven to maximum.
Using a spatula or knife, lift the hot lemon-flavored cookies, tear them off the paper and immediately, in the heat of the moment, dip them into a large amount of powdered sugar, thoroughly sprinkling each one on both sides. A hot surface absorbs powder more quickly, becomes evenly covered with a whitish shell and, supporting the winter theme, creates a semblance of snow. Shake off the excess powdered sugar - the “powdered” lemon cookies are ready!
We store citrus pastries in paper bags or glass containers, and for New Year and Christmas we select festive packaging - bon appetit and happy holidays!
For cookies you need to use zested lemons, i.e. lemons with thick and not bitter peel. If you find it difficult to determine suitability by appearance, then simply taste a small amount of zest. The dough can contain either only lemon juice with the zest scraped off, or completely crushed lemon.
In both cases, you must first cut it into slices and remove the seeds.
Grind the lemon into porridge using a blender attachment, add water so that the volume is 200 ml or 1 glass.
Combine the lemon mass with sugar and vegetable oil (refined and odorless), mix.
Add flour and soda. There is no need to specifically extinguish the soda; during the preparation of the dough, it will itself react with the acid of the lemon.
Quickly mix the ingredients together and the soft, fluffy, fragrant cookie dough is ready.
If you decide to sprinkle all or part of the cookies with crumbs (streusel), then set aside a small piece of dough, add flour to it so that when mixed, you get the dough in the form of crumbs of different sizes.
On a prepared baking surface (greased baking sheet, baking paper, silicone mat, etc.), place the dough in a thin layer of 0.5-1 cm. The thickness of the workpiece depends on whether you want the resulting lemon cookies to be crispier or fluffier.
Sprinkle some or all of the dough with crumble dough. Place the workpiece in an oven preheated to 180-200 degrees, after twelve to fifteen minutes check whether the surface is browned. Baking time depends on the thickness of the dough, how dry or soft the cookies you want to bake and the properties of your oven.
If desired, while the cookies are in the oven, you can prepare a glaze using water or citrus juice, mixing them with powdered sugar.
To decorate with chocolate, you need to put its pieces in a plastic plastic bag, and then melt them in the microwave in cycles of 20-30 seconds at MAX. Push the melted chocolate to one of the corners of the bag, and then cut off a piece of film from this corner. A simple confectionery bag for decorating with chocolate is ready.
Lemon cookies can be prepared according to different recipes, but they will have one thing in common - a delicious aroma.
This is exactly the delicacy that goes well with coffee, tea, lifts your spirits and energizes you. Moreover, it can be prepared very quickly. Just half an hour and you can serve fragrant cookies on the table.
Lemon cookies - general principles of preparation
There are no lemon cookies without citrus. The fruit should be fragrant, juicy, and have an even and bright zest. It is this that gives the taste of baked goods and is the main ingredient. Juice and pulp are used much less frequently. The easiest way to remove the zest is with a grater, thereby obtaining small, thin shavings and saving yourself from unnecessary manipulations with a knife.
Flour. The basis of any baking. Wheat is used for cookies. It must be sifted, mixed with ripper, starch and other bulk ingredients according to the recipe. If raisins, nuts, or chocolate pieces are added, then in order to distribute them evenly in the dough, it is also recommended to pre-bread them in flour.
Sugar. The basis of all desserts and it is indispensable in baking. You can use sand or powder. Despite its loose texture, it liquefies the dough and melts quickly under the influence of moisture. You should not increase the amount of sugar much, otherwise the baked goods will fry more, burn, and will not bake well inside.
Oil. Mostly butter is used; in the dough it can be replaced with good margarine with a fat content of at least 80%. Usually the butter is softened, whipped with granulated sugar or powder, and less often melted to a liquid state.
Eggs. They are used only in their raw form, play the role of a binding component, and are mixed with the ingredients before adding flour. If the egg is small, for example, of the second category, then instead of one you can put two pieces.
Cookies are baking in the oven, on a baking sheet. You can cover it with paper, sprinkle it with flour, grease it with oil, or use a silicone mat. Soft lemon cookies can be baked in silicone molds.
Recipe 1: Shortbread lemon cookies “Tender”
The peculiarity of these lemon cookies is that they remain soft for a long time and do not go stale; they will last well at room temperature for several days. The dough is crumbly, tender, aromatic.
Ingredients
A pack of butter 200 grams;
200 grams of sugar;
1 lemon;
300 grams of flour;
5 grams of ripper.
Preparation
1. Remove the butter from the refrigerator in advance, then beat with granulated sugar until fluffy. The mass should become white and airy.
2. Add eggs one at a time and continue beating.
3. Remove the zest from the citrus, squeeze the juice out of half and place it all together in the dough. If the lemon is small, you can add all the juice. Mix.
4. Sift the flour together with the ripper, pour it into the total mass and knead with a spatula. The dough will be quite soft and airy.
5. Using a spoon, place lumps of dough onto the prepared baking sheet at a distance of at least 3 cm from each other. The cookies will spread and increase in size.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes in the oven at 190 degrees.
Recipe 2: French Lemon Cookies
A simple recipe for crumbly French cookies, which are prepared with the addition of starch. The finished baked goods are decorated with powdered sugar.
Ingredients
160 grams of butter;
6 tablespoons of powder;
Zest from one lemon and 4 tablespoons of juice;
260 grams of flour;
A pinch of fine salt;
2 spoons with a mountain of starch.
For dusting with powder.
Preparation
1. Beat the butter and powder until it is completely dissolved.
2. Add chopped zest and juice, mix.
3. Add flour mixed with starch and salt.
4. Knead the dough, put it in a bag and put it in the refrigerator for an hour.
5. Take out the dough, roll out the sausage and cut into circles, half a centimeter thick.
6. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until done. Cool and sprinkle with powder.
Recipe 3: One Moment Lemon Biscuit Cookies
These cookies can be eaten in their natural form, used for prefabricated cakes, and simply decorated with cream, icing, and various sprinkles. It dries out quite quickly, so it is better to store it in a sealed container or covered with a napkin. These cookies can be baked either on a baking sheet or in silicone molds.
Ingredients
Lemon zest;
150 grams of sugar;
150 grams of flour;
120 grams of butter;
A teaspoon of ripper.
Preparation
1. Beat eggs with sugar into a strong foam.
2. Add zest, flour and baking powder, mix.
3. Melt the butter and carefully add it to the egg mixture. Mix gently with a spoon, moving from the bottom up.
4. Place the dough into molds or squeeze it out of a pastry bag onto a baking sheet. Remember that the cookies will double in size.
5. Bake at 180 degrees until done. The oven cannot be opened at this time. After baking, open the door slightly, let the heat drop, and only then take out the cookies.
Recipe 4: Lemon poppy seed cookies
It's impossible not to fall in love with these lemon cookies. The combination of citrus and poppy is one of the most advantageous; the baked goods turn out incredibly aromatic and tasty. The special thing about this recipe is that if you make the cookies small, they will be crispy. If you form large products, they will be soft and airy. Experiment!
Ingredients
2.5 cups flour;
150 grams of butter;
A glass of sugar;
¼ cup lemon juice;
Zest from one citrus;
Ripper 1 tsp;
20 grams of poppy seeds;
A pinch of salt.
Preparation
1. Pour the juice into a small saucepan, boil for a couple of minutes, it should evaporate a little.
2. Add half the butter and immediately remove from heat, stir until dissolved.
3. Separately, beat the second part of the butter with sugar, you can take powder. Then add the egg, zest, salt and butter with the boiled juice. Beat everything well for 5 minutes.
4. Combine flour with ripper, sift if necessary and knead lumps. Add poppy seeds and mix.
5. Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture and knead the dough. If it turns out too liquid, you can add a little more flour.
6. Place cookies using a pastry bag. You can use a curly attachment and make a shape like kurabi, flowers or shells.
7. Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned.
Recipe 5: Lemon curd cookies with glaze
These baked goods are soft, airy balls with a lemon flavor. Stripes of sugar icing are applied on top of the cookies, but you can also use protein or melted chocolate.
Ingredients
0.2 kg cottage cheese;
100 grams of sugar;
100 grams of butter;
2 yolks;
20 grams of honey;
250 grams of flour;
1 teaspoon of ripper;
Zest from one lemon.
For the glaze:
4 spoons of powder;
2 spoons of water.
Preparation
1. Beat cottage cheese in a blender with granulated sugar.
2. Add yolks, soft butter, honey, beat together.
3. Add half the flour, baking powder, zest and mix. Then gradually add the remaining flour, perhaps it will take a little less. It all depends on the moisture content of the cottage cheese. The mass should be thick, but soft, not clogged with flour.
4. Using your hands, roll into balls slightly larger than a walnut. Place on a baking sheet.
5. Bake until done at 180 degrees, approximately 13 minutes.
6. Mix the powder with water. The glaze should be thick but runny.
7. Cool the cookies and draw stripes on the surface with icing. This can be done with a bag or just a spoon. We wait until the glaze dries and you can serve the delicacy to the table.
Recipe 6: Eggless Lemon Cookies
This version of cookies is prepared without eggs, in odorless vegetable oil. Simple, quick, and has a pleasant lemon flavor.
Ingredients
3 cups flour;
A glass of sugar;
100 ml vegetable oil;
Half a teaspoon of soda.
Preparation
1. Cut the lemon into thin slices to remove all the seeds. Then put the pieces into a blender and grind into puree.
2. Add enough water to the lemon to make 200 ml of mass.
3. extinguish the soda in the lemon mixture;
4. Mix lemon with sugar, beat until dissolved.
5. Add vegetable oil, then flour. Mix everything.
6. Form small balls and bake at 180 degrees in the oven.
Recipe 7: Lemon Chocolate Chip Cookies
An explosive citrus aroma and a hint of chocolate bitterness are the flavors that are present in these delicious cookies. It cooks quickly and turns out magical. For filling, you can use special drops or simply cut the dark chocolate into small pieces.
Ingredients
0.12 kg butter or good margarine;
0.22 kg flour;
90 grams of sugar;
60 grams of starch;
A teaspoon of ripper;
Zest of 1 citrus;
Half a bar of dark chocolate or a drizzle.
Preparation
1. Beat margarine (or butter) with granulated sugar until white, add the egg and mix.
2. Pour in the zest and mix.
3. Combine flour with starch and baking powder, sift everything together through a sieve.
4. Knead the dough from two masses.
5. Add chocolate drops or pieces. If you use tiles, then you need to keep them in the freezer for half an hour, then chop them with a large knife.
6. Place the dough on cling film, form a sausage and put it in the refrigerator for an hour to harden.
7. Take out and cut into circles, using your hands to give them the correct shape.
8. Place the pieces on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.
Recipe 8: Lemon cookies from Yulia Vysotskaya with coriander
There are two ways to prepare lemon coriander cookies: adding aromatic filling to the dough or simply mixing with powder and sprinkle on top. It is better to add the spice inside, since in combination with lemon zest during baking it will reveal the aroma, making the delicacies especially tasty.
Ingredients
A glass of flour;
Half a glass of powder;
110 grams of butter;
A pinch of salt, Yulia Vysotskaya uses sea salt;
A small spoon of coriander.
Preparation
1. Pour coriander into a mortar and grind with a pestle until it becomes powdery.
2. Remove the zest from the lemon and grind with coriander.
3. Beat the butter with a mixer or blender, leaving a small piece for greasing the baking sheet. If you are using a silicone mat, then put everything in the dough.
4. Add the powder to the oil, beat for a few more seconds.
5. Add salt to the dough and mix.
6. Pour in the zest and coriander and stir everything thoroughly.
7. Add flour and mix the dough at low speed. It should take the form of crumbs.
8. Form circles from the crumbly dough. Place on a baking sheet.
9. Place in a preheated oven, bake at 180 degrees for 12-13 minutes.
The easiest way to decorate cookies is to sprinkle them with powder. It can be mixed with chopped zest, cocoa, cinnamon, and dry food coloring.
You can add not only lemon zest to the dough, but also other citrus fruits: orange, tangerine, grapefruit. And every time, baked goods prepared according to the same recipe will delight you with new tastes.
You can add any zest to the dough, not necessarily fresh. Dry the fragrant crusts during the season, use them in baking and delight your loved ones with homemade delicacies at any time of the year.
If the recipe specifies a ripper, then you should not replace it with soda. A special additive not only raises the dough, but also forms an even porosity, the product turns out loose and airy. Soda is more suitable for shortcrust pastry.
If the cookies turn out dry or overcooked, don’t despair! It can be smeared with jam, jam, cream, chocolate paste and glued together, the halves will become softer. Or simply grind it into crumbs, add cocoa, butter, condensed milk and prepare delicious “potato” cakes that will have a pleasant citrus aroma.
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