Ingredients
- 4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon zest, about 6 to 8 lemons
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, chilled
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- Lemon Icing, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a food processor work bowl, add sugar and lemon zest. Process until sugar and zest are well mixed, about 20 seconds. Scrape into a large mixing bowl. Reserve about 1/2 cup of lemon sugar in a separate bowl for later use.
Add flour, baking powder and salt into food processor and pulse briefly to mix. Add cold butter into food processor with flour mixture and process with short pulses until mixture resembles cornmeal and no large lumps of butter remain, about 10 pulses. Pour this mixture into the sugar and lemon mixture in the large mixing bowl and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix egg yolks, vanilla extract and lemon juice together.
Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, pour in the lemon/sugar and flour/butter mixture and stir until combined, about 15 seconds. Then, while the mixer is still running, slowly add egg/lemon juice mixture and mix until well combined and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 15 to 30 seconds.
Scrape the dough into a large bowl and refrigerate until cold, but not solid, about 30 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Take the dough balls and roll the tops into the reserved lemon sugar. Use the bottom of a water glass to press the cookies flat, about 1/4-inch thick. Bake the cookies until slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the parchment paper with the cookies from the tray to a cooling rack and cool completely, about 1 hour. Once the cookies have completely cooled, ice with Lemon Icing
Lemon Icing:
1 pound (2 cups) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons lemon juice
In a medium bowl, whisk sugar and lemon juice together until smooth. Spoon onto cooled cookies, and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Let stand on a cooling rack until the glaze is set, about 1 hour.
Yield: enough for 3 dozen cookies
* Professional Recipe
This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional and makes a large quantity. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make any representation as to the results.
Photo: Iced Lemon Cookies Recipe
















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By dolphin2807
Rochester, NY
on December 12, 2012
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Great lemon flavor. A little overwhelming with the icing.
By amintz0525
on March 12, 2012
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I was a bit disappointed in this recipe. My first problem was with the baking time. The first batch burned, so I adjusted my time to 9 minutes. The cookies came out nice and soft in the center and crispy on the outside. My second problem was the cookies had a strange after taste. This may have been my fault because I use lemon peel instead of lemon zest. I thought that the icing would make them taste better, but it really didn't. The icing did have excellent flavor, though. I may try this recipe again and use the lemon zest.
By cidlady_12398128
Alexandria, 86
on December 22, 2011
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This cookie was a big hit at my holiday party. I refrigerated for about an hour. I would recommend not starting the recipe by saying to preheat oven, when the recipe then calls for the dough to be refrigerated. But the taste and consistency was great.
Read all 42 reviews