Holy Downton Abbey.
Do you watch Downton? If not: do yourself a favor and clear your schedule this week. Watch all three seasons immediately — and if you somehow manage to pace yourself like a civilized human, I commend you for having restraint of great proportion.
Really though, I have friends my age (both men and women) who love it — and I'm sure my Mom and Grandmother would love it too! It's just such a great story, hilarious (thank you Maggie Smith!), and beautiful to watch.
Anyways: I CANNOT BELIEVE LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE! I won't give anything away, for those of you not caught up, but SERIOUSLY: WTF? Now I can't wait another 11 months (yes, ELEVEN months) for season 4. I'm terribly pathetic when it comes to waiting for addictive shows to come back. Especially with awful cliffhangers, such as the one they tossed out last night. UGH.
Had I not already consumed them all, I would be drowning my Downton sorrow in these iced lemon cookies: they're pretty phenomenal, if I'm allowed to say that about my own cookies! I like 'em extra lemony, so I threw in some extra zest, and lemon juice — you could tone it down if you wish, but what's the fun in that?
I started out drizzling them with icing, but decided the dip method was much more satisfying — and easy to make a perfectly coated cookie! Get after it!
Print
Iced Lemon Cookies
- Prep Time: 50 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
- With clean fingers, rub the sugar and lemon zest together until fully incorporated. Combine with the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, and cream together on medium-high until light and fluffy (4-6 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg, mixing until incorporated, then the lemon juice and vanilla.
- Comine the wet and dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling into slightly flattened ⅛ cup balls and baking on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 12-14 minutes. The edges will be set but the tops of the cookies should not brown.
- Let the cookies fully cool before whisking the powdered sugar and lemon juice together, and dipping each cookie into the glaze.
Susie says
Making the iced lemon cookies right now. My kitchen smells delicious....
diane says
how many cookies does this make? Making for a cookie exchange, so need to know...look fabu!
Mary says
Hi Diane - I think this made about two dozen, but I'm not 100% sure on that!
Tam says
Can you freeze the dough? If so for how long?
Vanessa says
I made these yesterday and they're fantastic!!!
Amanda Fitzpatrick says
Wanted to make lemon cookies and came across these from a Pinterest search.
WOW. Wow. Wow. SO GOOD. Perfect.
The dough was super sticky even after chilling, so that was kind of a pain, but worth it from the first bite. I got a little over 2 dozen but they went fast! Thanks for a great recipe!
Peeked around your site and started following you on instagram -- love your travel photos!
Mary says
So glad you liked them, amanda! Sticky dough is the worst, but sometimes a necessary struggle 🙂
claire says
How much lemon juice and powdered sugar are required for the glaze? Any particular instructions for mixing? Maybe I overlooked this on the recipe. Thanks!
Mary says
Hi Claire! My instructions were a bit unclear here — sorry! It's 1 cup of powdered sugar to 2 Tbsp lemon juice — which you can adjust depending on your preference for runniness. Just whisk them together (sift the powdered sugar first to get rid of any lumps!), and then dip the cookies upside down into the glaze. Enjoy!
Maggie says
Are these a chewy or crisp cookie?
Mary says
Chewy!
Joni says
I followed the recipe exactly and they are scrumptious! This is an elegant cookie; perfect for afternoon tea. I will definitely be serving these to guests and preparing as gifts. Thank you for a blue ribbon recipe!
★★★★★
Mary says
Thanks for the kind words, Joni! I'm so glad you liked these as much as I do!! xoxo
Brenda Vincent says
Very good cookies. I've been trying different recipes. I like this one the best. Everyone says they love them
★★★★★