Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

I don't know about you all, but I am soooo ready for Spring. As in: it's-42-degrees-out-and-I-wear-sandals ready for Spring.
It's time, folks.
It's time.
Unfortunately, the weather does not agree with me on this point and is stubbornly sticking with Winter and cold winds and threats of school-canceling snowstorms. So I've had to resort to cooking spring/summery foods to bring Spring inside.

These soft lemony cookies are just what the Spring-doctor ordered. They have just a hint of lemon in the cookie and a hint of lemon in the frosting...just enough lemon to make you think budding tulips, sunny blue skies, and a gentle breeze.  If you have any leftover, make sure to store them in the refrigerator; my kids voted that these cookies taste best cold.

Sorry the picture's not that great...I made these for Family Night and they were all consumed before I could get a good pic.  Then Dr. C made them again for me to take to Craft night and I was *of course* late, so I snapped a pick on my way out the door.

Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Lulu the Baker

For the cookies:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup crisco
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon milk
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For the frosting:
 1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
pinch of salt
fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl (I use my KitchenAid) cream together butter, crisco, and sugar until fluffy.  Add vanilla, egg, and lemon zest; mix well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until combined.  Add milk and lemon juice. Mix until completely combined. Roll dough into Tablespoon-sized balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn golden on the edges. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:
In a medium sized bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add vanilla.  Add powdered sugar and salt.  Stir until well combined.  Mix in fresh lemon juice until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.

Chocolate Mint- Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Made these for family night treat.
All I can say is: YUM.
Chewy brownie cookie, mint chocolate chip ice cream: simple, divine.
May my summer may be filled with these little sandwiches.

P.S. Use any flavor of ice cream that you desire.... So, so good.

Chocolate Mint-Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches   

slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (www.melskitchencafe.com)

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (mini chips would be best)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pint mint chocolate chip ice cream (or whatever flavor you want)


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment, silpat liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, place the 4 ounces chocolate and the butter. Microwave on low power for one minute intervals until the chocolate and butter are melted and combined, stirring after every minute of cooking. Take care not to microwave at too high of power or the chocolate can scorch.
3. Let the chocolate mixture cool slightly, then whisk in the brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat the mixture until it is well combined.
4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips and mix.
5. Roll the dough into about 16 balls (12 to 14 if you want larger ice cream sandwiches, or more if you want smaller sandwiches. I did about 20). Roll each ball of cookie dough in the sugar. Transfer the dough balls to the prepared baking sheets, placing about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake the cookies until they are puffed, 12 to 15 minutes.
7. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough. When the cookies have all cooled, place them in the freezer in an airtight container until they are very cold. (I skipped the step of freezing).

8. Remove the cookies from the freezer (or just working with cooled cookies)  and working quickly, arrange half of the cookies bottom side up and top each with a small scoop of ice cream in the middle of the cookie. Use a cookie scoop for the ice cream for smaller cookies (I used a cookie scoop) or a regular ice cream scoop for larger cookies. Top with a second cookie and press together lightly. Wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. I just put mine in a pan in the freezer for about an hour. 

9. When ready to serve, remove from freezer and let sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften. Serve and enjoy!

Notes: My cookies didn't flatten as much as the original recipe, but were still wonderful. I also found it difficult to roll the dough into balls at first, so I refrigerated my dough a bit to stiffen it up- but that probably contributed to them not flattening as much. If you refrigerate the dough, try pressing the cookies with the bottom of a cup or your hand before you bake them for a flatter cookie.

Soft & Chewy Ginger Snaps

Like Whitney said, our lives have been a bit hectic over the past few months.  I am ashamed to admit that for a while there, I think we only ate food that:

a) Came from a restaurant, or

b)Came from the frozen foods section and simply had to be put in the oven

Thankfully, we are finished with that stage and I'm ready to spend some time in the kitchen again.

A friend gave me the recipe for these cookies several years ago and they deserve their time in the baking-spotlight.  After a cold afternoon spent playing in the snow, the cinnamon-molasses scent of these cookies instantly warms you before you even take the first bite.  Perfect cookies for all winter long.

Soft and Chewy Ginger Snaps

Source: Sara Seifert

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups flour

white sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream together butter, brown sugar, egg, molasses, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and flour.  Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mix until combined.  Form dough into 1" balls.  Roll each ball in white sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet, bake for 7-9 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

My daughter, who is the official cookie baker in our house, recently tried these yummy cookies from King Arthur Flour. They are tasty, rich, and sturdy- perfect for packing in a lunchbox. They are a dense, but soft cookie and would also be great with a tall glass of cold milk.

P.S. Go check out the King Arthur Flour website, it is chock full of great recipes and great baking items! Here is the link to the original recipe:http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/chocolate-peanut-butter-cookies-recipe

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour (You may want to weigh your flour- you don't want any extra- these cookies are already dense)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups mini peanut butter cups or peanut butter chips (we used chips)
Note: I was just thinking- you could use a mix of chocolate and peanut butter chips to achieve more of the peanut butter cup taste...

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, line with parchment paper or use Silpat silicone baking liners.

2) Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

3) In another bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy.

4) Beat in the vanilla, egg, and water, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.

5) Stir in the mini peanut butter cups or peanut butter chips.

6) Scoop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each cookie with your hand or the bottom of a glass to about 1/2" thick. - Make sure you press them down; they do not spread.

7) Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Be careful not to overbake. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack. 

Raspberry Linzer Cookies

We made these dainty Linzer Butter Cookies for Valentine's Day. They are different from traditional linzer cookies in that they do not contain nut meal or nut flour, but instead are a sturdier version of a butter cookie. They are crisp, tender, and melt-in-your mouth delicious! It is a wonderful recipe from the folks at King Arthur Flour. ~Whitney

Linzer Butter Cookies

(slightly adapted from the recipe at the King Arthur Flour website)
Ingredients
-1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
-1 cup + 2 tablespoons salted butter
-1 large egg yolk
-1/2 teaspoon salt *If using unsalted butter increase salt to 1 teaspoon.
-2 teaspoons vanilla
-2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-2/3 cup filling or jam (apricot, raspberry, strawberry, chocolate, or even icing)
-confectioners' sugar for dusting

1) Combine the sugar, butter, egg yolk, salt, and vanilla in a bowl, beating until smooth.
2) Add the flour, mixing until smooth. The mixture will seem dry at first, but will suddenly become cohesive. If it doesn't, dribble in a tablespoon of water.
3) Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a flattened disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
4) Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften for about 20 to 30 minutes, until it feels soft enough to roll. It should still feel cold, but shouldn't feel rock-hard. If dough softens too quickly, return to refrigerator. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5) Sprinkle your rolling surface with flour, and flour your rolling pin. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it 1/8" to 3/16" thick.
6) Use a linzer cutter to cut a base and a cutout top for each cookie. It's good to cut them in pairs so you know you have an even number of each. Re-roll and cut the dough scraps.
7) Place the cookies on ungreased, parchment-lined, or silpat-lined baking sheets. They can be close together; they'll barely spread.
8) Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're set and barely browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, and cool right on the pan.
9) To create the beautiful white sugar tops, fill a fine sifter with confectioners' sugar. Hold the sifter a few inches above the cookie and shake or tap the sifter to drift sugar onto the cutout piece of the cookie. Be sure to cover the cookie with an even layer, all the way to the center and edges.
10)If using jam, put in microwave safe bowl and microwave for a few seconds to liquefy it. On the solid base of the cookie, spread 1/2 teaspoon of your filling or jam. To complete the cookie, place the sugared top gently on the filled base and press together.
11) It's best to let these cookies sit for a few hours to let the "sandwich" set. Overnight is fine as well; just cover the cookie tray with plastic wrap.