Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

I don’t even really like lemon desserts. Lemon bars are good, but I’ll almost always pass over a lemon cake (except for this one…when paired with strawberry, I’m in) in favor of something with peanut butter, chocolate, or caramel. I’m more of a fan of lemon in savory applications. Chicken picatta, lemon juice in my salad dressing, and especially Lemon Ricotta Ravioli are some of my favorite lemony applications.

However, for some reason last night when I was in the pantry examining the shelves for inspiration, I looked down at that HUGE box of lemons (I’m really going to need to share a picture of that box…you don’t understand how many lemons we have) and just really wanted a lemon poppy-seed muffin. I also really didn’t want to make muffins.

So, lemon poppy seed cookies? Was that a thing? Yep, it was. I found a couple recipes to go off of and was on my merry way. The whole time I was crossing my fingers that they would turn out cakey instead of chewy like normal cookies, and based on the ingredients, they would. And they did! They were cakey, sweet, and lemony, but still missing that tart lemon element that I craved.

A quick lemon glaze of lemon juice, powdered sugar and almond extract remedied that. The tart lemon glaze totally puts these over the edge and rounds out the flavors. The little hit of almond extract makes them reminiscent of those HUGE Costco lemon poppy seed muffins. If you have some lemons and aren’t feeling ambitious enough today to make a four layer lemon strawberry cake (hey, I’m usually not), whip these up. They’re a wonderful snack to quench that summer lemon craving.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Yield: Yields 18-24 cookies

Ingredients
For the cookies
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
8 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg

For the glaze
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the almond extract and egg until blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated.
Drop balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are set and just beginning to brown at the edges (do not let the tops brown). Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack set over wax paper to cool a bit before glazing.
To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, almond extract and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add more lemon juice if necessary, just until the glaze has reached a consistency good for drizzling over the cookies. Glaze the cookies and let the glaze set before serving. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites
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http://www.bakerita.com/lemon-poppy-seed-cookies/

Comments

uTry.it says:

August 3, 2012 at 8:55 am

I’m the opposite….I’m a huge lemon dessert fan! Can’t live without my lemons, especially the Meyer lemons. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Amanda Formaro says:

August 6, 2012 at 5:13 am

They sound fabulous to me! I love anything with “elemon poppyseed” in the title :)
Lauren Nash says:

January 30, 2013 at 7:20 pm

I made these this morning and they came out terrific, I love poppy seeds. The only difference I made was to dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze and gently shake off the bit extra so it was a nice thin layer.

My family already finished them off! I will have to make a double batch next time. ;) Thanks for the sweet and simple recipe.