The cookies that shocked me

When I was a little kid, I hated having anything for dessert that had to do with lemons. I never understood why people enjoyed sweets such as lemon meringue pie, lemon pound cake, lemon tarts, and lemon cookies. Lemon was bitter and sour and as far as I knew, the only thing lemony I enjoyed eating were Lemonheads. I don't quite remember what turned me off, but I have always steered away from eating any kind of lemon sweet...up until this past weekend.

On Saturday, I went over to my aunt's house and sitting on the counter in the distance was a plate of cute looking cookies. When I moved closer and saw that the yellow bits on top were not sprinkles, but rather bits of lemon zest, I couldn't help but feel some disappointment. But they were too pretty and and I couldn't discriminate. I decided to try one.

I picked a cookie up, took a bite, and was shocked. The cookies were perfectly crisp, not too sweet, and the hint of bitter and sourness from the lemon zest on top was surprisingly pleasant. Craziness. Shame on me, what other delicious lemony sweets have I missed out on all these years?! I'm determined to find out.

This cookie recipe is quite simple. My aunt adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart:

Iced Lemon Zest Cookies Recipe

For the cookies-

Ingredients

-2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

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

-1 cup granulated sugar

-1 large egg

-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Continue to beat until combined.
5. Add in the flour mixture from your medium sized bowl. Beat slowly until combined. If you're using an electric mixer like my aunt did, put it on low.
6. When you have your dough, drop generous tablespoons onto two bake sheets. They should be one inch apart.
7. Bake until the edges are golden for 15-20 minutes, rotating bake sheets halfway through. Let cool for a couple minutes on sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now for the glaze-

Ingredients

-2 cups confectioners sugar

-2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

-1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions
1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.
2. Spread cookies with glaze, and let set for an hour.

Enjoy! When life hands you lemons, make cookies. : )