I do believe I have found THE perfect lemon cookie. I love lemon anything . . . and these cookies are just the absolute epitome of what are some beautiful lemon flavours! Crisp, buttery and full on lemony! Wowsa wowsa! Pucker up because these cookies are going to slap you with a lovely lemon kiss!
They are so simple to make and bake as well. I adapted the recipe from a little BBC Good Food Book, entitled Easy Baking Recipes. I love those little BBC books, they are chock full of great recipes.
It is simple butter dough . . . flavoured with lemon and vanilla . . . tender and flakey . . . not quite shortbread like, but close . . .
The lemon flavor is very subtle, but not too subtle. It's definitely there.
Additional lemon flavor comes from the lemon curd which you use to sandwich these lovely biscuits together with. Use a good quality curd . . . one which is thick and puckeringly lemony flavoured. It is worth it to pay a bit more. These lovely biscuits deserve more than the cheap stuff. You won't be sorry.
Yet another layer of lemon flavor comes in the sweet lemon icing which is drizzled over top of the sandwiched biscuits . . . but that's not all . . .
A finishing sprinkle of freshly grated lemon zest seals the deal and completes three layers of delightful lemon tastiness.
Simply put . . . these are gorgeous.
*Lemon Kisses*Makes about 20 double biscuits/cookiesPrintable Recipe
Use a good quality thick lemon curd for these. If you love lemon, you will quite simply adore these.
200g soft butter (7 ounces or 14 TBS)140g caster sugar (3/4 cup)1 large free range egg yolk1 tsp vanillathe zest of two lemonsthe juice of one lemon300g of plain flour, plus a bit extra for dusting (2 cups plus 2 1/2 TBS, plus extra for dusting)1/2 jar good quality lemon curd140g of icing sugar, sifted (3/4 cup)
Line a few large baking trays with baking paper. Set aside.
Cream the butter together with the sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and the zest of one lemon until well combined. Add the flour and stir together. You may need to use your hands near the end to make sure the flour is completely incorporated, and you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured board. Stamp into 2 1/2 inch rounds. Reroll trimmings and recut until you have used all the dough. Place on baking sheets. Chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200*C.400*F/ gas mark 6.
Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, on the middle rack of the oven until pale golden brown, about 8 minutes or so. Scoop off onto wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before proceeding.Spread half of the biscuits with some lemon curd, and top with the remaining biscuits.
Whisk the icing sugar together with enough of the lemon juice from one of the lemons to give you a thick drizzle icing. Drizzle this over top of the sandwiched biscuits and sprinkle with the lemon zest of the second lemon. Leave to set before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.
As I was rolling these out, I thought to myself, wouldn't these be lovely cut out with my bunny cutters, filled, glazed and then decorated with some white candy puff tails, and pink eyes . . . and so I cut out roughly half the dough as bunnies. Never thinking for a minute that if I wanted to sandwich them together I would have to reverse cut half of them . . . DUH. Nevermind. They were still cute and pretty tasty as a single layer cookie, glazed with the lemon icing and decorated simply as it were.
Bon Appetit!