Lemon Glazed Cookies



Lemon Glazed Lemon Cookies by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 It's easier to bake in the summer than the colder months. I know that sounds strange, but with the busy-ness of the school year, baking projects tend to be rushed and compartmentalized, without the spontaneous "gee, I think I'll bake cookies today" moments that I love. So, even though it heats up the house, we're baking cookies today - the homemade slice and bake kind. And they're lemon - which is turning out to be my theme ingredient this year - lemon glazed tea loaves, lemon ice cream, lemon pound cake, lemon pudding...


Glazed Lemon Cookies


adapted from Susan Purdy's The Family Baker

Yield: about 40 cookies

Cookie dough

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze

3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. For the cookies: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and well blended. Beat in the egg, lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Scrape down the bowl and beater and add flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch and baking soda, beating everything together until fully incorporated.

2. Dust a countertop with a small amount of flour and turn dough out. Knead lightly and shape into a log. I like a square cookie, so I square the edges. You can divide the dough into two logs, if that works better for your refrigerator. Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. You can also double wrap the dough logs, place in a freezer container, label and freeze for up to 2 months. If using frozen dough, set out on counter while the oven preheats, to make the dough easier to slice.

3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper. Place cookie dough log on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice 1/4-inch slices. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 or until the cookies are a light golden brown on the edges. While cookies are baking, make glaze by combining lemon juice, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Use a spatula to gently remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a wire rack set over wax paper or foil (to catch drips) to cool slightly. Use a brush to spread glaze on cookies while they're still warm. Let cookies dry and place them in airtight containers for storage.  It's a good idea to put parchment paper or waxed paper between the layers of cookies.

A twist on doughnuts and coffee: Bonuts with bacon

Krispy Kreme with coffee syrup, whipped cream & bacon bits. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 

 The French toast with the funny name, Bostock, seems to my mind to be easily adapted to Southern ingredients. I’m a Southern girl, without a doubt, and my daddy grew up hunting squirrels in the woods of Alabama with his trusty mutt Bo by side. Other famous Sons of the South include Bo Diddley, Bo Jackson (remember “Bo Knows”?), and American Idol runner-up Bo Bice. My husband reminds me of Bo Derek (native of southern California) and Bo Svensen (native of southern Sweden), to boost the argument. (well, he doesn't really remind me of Bo Derek.)

Krispy Kremes. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

In considering this week’s challenge, I decided to go seasonal, with pumpkin and ginger Bostock and local, with Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts. You know what I’m talking about - the ones in the box that screams “eat me!” I took a day-old doughnut, split, it toasted it, soaked it in coffee, heated it and topped it with sweetened whipped cream and christened the top with crunchy bacon bits.

If you’re counting calories and carbs, allow me outline the recipe in a useful way:

1. Deep fried fat and sugar dipped in
2. Sugared caffeine, covered with
3. Dairy fat and sugar, topped with
4. Fried, nitrate- and nitrite-enhanced pork fat. Mmmmm. Kinda makes me wonder what Junior Samples ate for breakfast.

I know it’s not vegan, vegetarian, raw or organic, and it may be more appropriate for Francis’ Sacrificial Lam stories over at Salon. All I know is that it tasted really, really good.

Bonuts with bacon. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Bonuts (Doughnut Bostock)

6 Krispy Kreme doughnuts

Coffee syrup (see recipe below)

Sweetened softly whipped cream

6 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped fine

1. Using a bread knife, carve off a thin slice from the bottom of each doughnut  (check for air holes - the thin slice is the cook’s treat). Soak each doughnut lightly in the coffee syrup, then place on plate. Put plate in microwave oven and zap for 15 to 30 seconds - just enough to warm up the doughnut. Garnish with whipped cream and bacon bits.

Coffee syrup

2 cups coffee

¼ cup sugar

1. Place in saucepan and let boil until reduced by half. Let cool to room temperature.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy cream, very cold

1 1/2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a chilled mixing bowl, whip cream until it begins to thicken. Stir in sugar and vanilla and continue beating until soft peaks form. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Text and images © 2010, Lucy Mercer.