I've been craving a spring-like treat this week so I decided to use those fabulous Meyer lemons I bought to bake some cookies. If you haven't tried Meyer lemons yet, you need to! I love cooking with lemon, but baking with lemon can be challenging. Too much lemon juice or lemon rind and you've got yourself the world's most sour, acidic treat ever. Blech! Meyer Lemons however are much sweeter and less acidic, so baking with them produces a wonderful fresh, flavorful treat. I also used lemon extract here to bring out more lemon flavor without having to add more sugar to balance the sweet- sour flavors.
Instead of finding a new recipe, I altered a favorite of mine {Soft Ginger-Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting} and they turned out delicious. They have just enough lemon that both you and your kids will enjoy them. You can purchase Meyer lemons at most grocery stores. They are sold several to a bag; you'll need 2 for this recipe.
Frosted Meyer Lemon Cookies
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter (I used butter flavored Crisco!}
- 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1-2 tsp grated Meyer Lemon rind {lemon zest}
- juice of 1 Meyer lemon {about 2 TBSP}
- 2 tsp Lemon Extract
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tsp grated Meyer Lemon rind
- juice of 1 Meyer Lemon {about 2 TBSP}
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract
- 2-4 TBSP milk
- 1-2 drops yellow food coloring, if desired
Roll into 1-inch balls. Bake 8-10 minutes. {The cookies don't spread much at all, so I ended up baking about 20 on a tray!} Remove from tray immediately and place on cooling rack.
Recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies.
You can even shake some sprinkles on top to make them more festive!
