Lemon Butter Cookies

Spring is here, but you wouldn’t know it by the dark and gloomy days we’ve been having around here. Cheer up. I have a cookie that will brighten your day. They are flakey on the outside and chewy on the inside. And the tangy lemon flavor combined with the sweet butter cookie is like a bite of sunshine.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
•  1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 drops yellow food coloring
• 3/4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. 1-2 minutes.
3. Beat in eggs, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and food coloring.
4. Beat in dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight for best results.
6. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
7. Roll dough into 2 inch balls then roll in powdered sugar and place on baking sheets. Let sit for 2 minutes until sugar is absorbed, then reroll in powdered sugar.
8. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets and bake until cookies crackle and set but still slightly soft in center, 17-19 minutes.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack  and let cool completely.
10. This recipe yields 24-30 cookies depending on how evenly you roll your cookie dough. One day I am going to invest in a dough scoop so I can have uniform cookies. I  sprinkled a little extra powdered sugar on the cookies when cooled, but that is not necessary.

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Lemon Snowball Cookies

These cookies you can make all year round. But come on. They call them snowball cookies. SNOWBALLS! When I think of snowballs, I think winter. And when I think winter, I think the holidays. These are similar to Russian tea cookies without the walnuts or pecans. I just don’t really like nuts in my cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1-2 cups powdered sugar for coating

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. Beat butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon extract, kosher salt and lemon zest.
3. Add the flour and mix until dough forms into consistency of small pebbles.
4. Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls. Leave 1-2 inches between cookies as the dough does no spread.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies no longer look wet.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before rolling in additional powdered sugar.
7. Roll cookies in powdered sugar added to a bowl or go add powdered sugar to a ziploc bag and shake to cover cookies.

Cookies will store for 3 days in air tight container or freeze up to one month. This recipe yielded 30 cookies.

Lemon Blueberry Crumble Bars

I love quick recipes. And even better, a quick baked goods recipe. Correction, a quick FROM SCRATCH recipe. These are so tasty you are going to want to make a second batch soon. I know I am!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Lightly coat an 8×8 baking pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. In a large bowl or food processor, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add egg yolk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and cold butter. Using your fingers work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. (Or pulse in food processor until crumbs form.)
4. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice. Add blueberries and gently mix to combine.
5. Spread 2/3 of the batter into the prepared baking pan. 
6. Spread blueberry mixture evenly over the bottom layer. 
7. Sprinkle with remaining 1/3 of the batter and then sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over top batter layer. 
8. Bake until lightly browned, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars.

Honey Lemon Chicken

Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been a few weeks since my last post. I had oral surgery recently that left me on a soft food diet. Needless to say, none of the stuff I ate was worth blogging or wasn’t made by me. My daughter was kind enough to send home a care package that included soup and ice cream! Finally, a legitimate excuse to eat ice cream!

Anyway, I am slowly transitioning to regular food. So my first regular meal is this chicken dish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And if you are like me and love quick and easy recipes, this dish can be completed in about 30 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
• lemon slices for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Combine flour, garlic powder and onion powder on a plate or bowl.
3. Dredge chicken, shaking off excess. Reserve 1 tablespoon flour and put in small bowl with 2 tablespoons cold water. Set aside.
4. Place butter, olive oil and minced garlic in skillet over medium high heat. When butter is melted, cook chicken until golden brown on both sides. About 4 minutes each side. Or until juices run clear. Remove chicken breasts from pan.
5. Add chicken broth to skillet and bring to a simmer. Scrape the pan to mix brown bits into the liquid.
6. Add honey, lemon juice and soy sauce and mix. Add reserved flour and water slurry to skillet. Simmer until sauce thickens.
7. Return chicken to skillet. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn chicken over and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with fresh lemon slices and gravy from skillet.

Magic Lemon Custard Cake

I’ve been hearing about these magic cakes. One batter, three layers. Magic. It’s a rainy evening and there’s nothing good to watch on TV. I have nothing better to do, so why not give it whirl? So if I do this correctly, the top layer should be cake; the middle layer a custard; and the bottom layer a stiffer custard layer, more like flan.  Wish me luck.

The one thing I will note is the batter itself will be more like a crepe batter, so don’t be alarmed if you were expecting the batter to have a normal cake batter consistency.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs, room temperature (separate whites from yolks)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
• zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• powdered sugar for dusting the cake

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or line with parchment paper an 8 X 8 baking pan.
2. Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and mix until egg whites are stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.
3. Next beat the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy.
4. Add butter and vanilla extract to egg yolk mixture. Continue beating for another minute.
5. Add flour and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice and lemon zest.
7. Slowly add the milk and beat until all ingredients are combined.
8. Using a spatula, add the egg whites to your batter a third at a time. Mix in manually with the spatula. Do not over mix. You should still see bits of egg whites floating in the batter.
9. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 70 minutes or until cake top is golden and firm. You may want to start checking at the 40 minute mark, as all ovens vary.
10. Let cake completely cool before garnishing with powdered sugar. I put mine in the refrigerator to cool.

Hmmm.  I was a little worried as I could only see two layers from the outer sides of the cake. But once I cut it open and took out a piece, I could see the three layers. Awesome. It’s MAGIC!

Lemon Sugar Cookies

I’m not much of a breakfast eater. A cup of coffee usually hits the spot for me. But sometimes I want a little something to go with my morning coffee. I made lemon sugar cookies last night. They are just sitting there in a container on my kitchen table. Someone should eat them, right? I’m not saying that having cookies and coffee for breakfast is good for you. But they are there. And my coffee is there….

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling dough
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• zest of one large lemon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, cream cheese and butter. Mix until fluffy.
3. Add vegetable oil and egg and mix for 1 minute.
4. Next add milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon extract. Mix well.
5. Finally, add in your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until a soft dough comes together.
6. Place the remaining 1/3 cup sugar for rolling in a shallow bowl.
7. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough between your palms. Then roll into sugar. Then place on baking sheet spacing your dough balls at least 2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. The tops will be a little puffy and slightly cracked.
9. Let cookies rest for 2-3 minutes before transferring to wire rack to completely cool.

This recipe yielded 36 crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside cookies for me.