{recipe} Meyer Lemon Sugar Cookies

When life gives you lemons… don’t make lemonade. Make cookies!

My parents had loads and loads of Meyer lemons to harvest last weekend, so we decided to spend a few days experimenting with all sorts of new lemon recipes. One of the most successful was actually the simplest – Meyer lemon sugar cookies with just the right balance of sweetness and lemon flavor.This is a great way to spice up plain ol’ sugar cookies, and I think they would be great with other kinds of citrus as well.

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Sugar Cookies
makes about 25 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• zest of 3-4 Meyer lemons
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tblsp Meyer lemon juice
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• sugar for dipping

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy in a mixer.
• Add egg, lemon zest, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat well to fully combine.
• Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and mix just to combine. Don’t overmix.
• Using about a tablespoon of dough at a time, roll balls and dip the tops in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake about 8-10 minutes, until just barely beginning to brown at the edges.
• Remove from oven and leave on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.