Tea In the Garden - Iced Lemon Cookies

Some foods capture the essence of the season.  The scent of apples always makes me think of autumn.  Cinnamon and nutmeg are the aromas of Christmas and lemon IS summer! 


I suppose it's because we always made lemonade in the summertime when I was a child.  So when I saw this recipe for Iced Lemon Cookies, I thought of summer garden parties.  This weekend we have the perfect weather for a tea party on the lawn so we'd better get busy making these cookies.


All you need are a these store cupboard items and a nice juicy lemon:

3/4 cup butter - room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups plain flour


Beat the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks, vanilla and salt.  Beat again until they are well combined.  Gradually stir in the flour, mix until well incorporated.  I added a little Primrose Yellow paste food colouring, just because I wanted my cookies to look lemon-y yellow...it's certainly not necessary.  


Divide the dough in half.  Place each half on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into log shapes, about an inch or so in diameter.  Tightly twist the ends of the plastic wrap to seal and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes or until the dough is firm enough to slice into cookie shapes.   Cut slices (approximately 1/2 inch thick) to make cookies and place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Leave about 1 1/2 inch spaces between the cookies.  Bake at 350 degrees F or  180 degrees C for about 15 minutes.  You want the cookies to be lightly browned on the bottom.  Cool on a wire rack before icing.

Now, you may have noticed a nautical theme in the background of these photos.  It is my very small nod to the Olympic Sailing Events taking place near us in Weymouth.  Good luck to all who are participating and safe sailing! 


Back to the really important stuff - our cookies..... 

Mix together the following ingredients to make the Lemon Icing:

1 cup icing sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 

Whisk together the icing ingredients, adding a few more drops of lemon juice if needed.  Frost the cookies, make a pot of tea and enjoy!  To get an extra citrus kick, serve the tea with a slice of lemon instead of the usual milk and sugar.  It really does taste like summer!

Thanks to the cake duchess for inspiring this post.  Visit her at www.cakeduchess.com 

Comments

  1. gah! These look delicious. I can almost smell them. Deb, could I make these without using an electric mixer. I'm so lazy. LOL

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    Replies
    1. I used an electric hand mixer to beat together the butter and sugar but I am sure a wooden spoon applied in the traditional manner would work as well. : )

      P.S. That's not lazy, just energy efficient!

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