As much as I love dark chocolate, lemon-flavored desserts will always win. While biting into a chewy, fudgy brownie is no doubt comforting, I love the refreshing feeling of a smooth lemon curd combined with the slight crunch of a shortbread base that you get from a lemon bar. I can stop at one brownie, I have a much harder time not reaching for that second lemon bar.
Chewy Lemon Snowdrop Cookies. What isn't there to like? SophistaMom's lemon recipe sounded and looked far too good to resist, so while I was home and had my parents to try them out on, I was able to cross off another recipe from my "To Make" bookmark list.
The reason I call them No-So-Snowy cookies is they flattened out too much, so rolling them in powdered sugar was out of the question. Instead, I sprinkled powdered sugar over them -- definitely not as pretty as I was hoping for. Next time I think I'll roll the dough in sugar before baking, making them Icicle Chewy Lemon Cookies.
So how were they? I would tell you that I loved them, but coming from the girl who eats lemons raw, that wouldn't be saying much. Instead, I'll tell you that my dad, a confirmed chocolate-chip lover, liked these cookies so much that he even said he'd have a hard time choosing between these and a chocolate chip cookie -- that's saying something. He also kept walking back into the kitchen saying how good they were. So yes, I'd say success :)
Flavor-wise, my mom and I agreed that they taste like a cross between a lemon bar and a shortbread cookie. Texture-wise, when hot out of the oven, they have a perfectly chewy center and a crumb that just melts in your mouth.
Word of advice: these cookies are AWESOME straight out of the oven. However, I brought a bunch back to college with me and they weren't as good. The lemon flavor was still there, but the middle was more tough than chewy and the cookie lost that melt-in-your-mouth effect.I highly recommend that you make the cookie dough, but only bake how many you are going to eat that night and save the rest of the dough in the freezer.
Chewy Lemon Cookies
Adapted from SophistaMom
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Powdered sugar for coating or extra sugar if making Icicle cookies
What to Do:
1. Preheat oven to 325 and cover baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Combine flour and salt in small bowl
3. Cream butter, sugar, and agave together in mixing bowl until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides periodically
4. In small bowl, combine lemon juice and baking soda. Make sure the bowl is not too shallow because the mix will start to foam!
5. With the mixer on low, add in the flour and lemon juice to the creamed mixture
6. Turn the mixer off, and stir the dough a couple times by hand just to get the ingredients fully mixed
7. Roll into balls and place on baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes.
For Snow Cookies:
After baking, roll hot cookies in powdered sugar
For Icicle Cookies:
Before baking, roll each dough ball in sugar, then place on baking sheet
City and Colour concert tonight!
"Sleeping Sickness" -- City and Colour
Have a great weekend!
Kelli
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