Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies

I've been on a lemon kick lately.  I've been buying bags of Meyer Lemons and putting them in everything.  They are great in baked goods, beverages, on vegetables, and in soup.  I really can't get enough of them!

So when I heard that the Creative Cookie Exchange Theme for this month was cookies that go well with tea I knew I'd be making some sort of lemon cookie.

Choosing the lemon cookie to go with the tea was a bit of a challenge.  I marked six different recipes and tried to go with the pros and cons of each.

I looked through my Dorie's Cookbook because she has so many good recipes in her cookbook.   I mean I had to decide between Lemon Shortbread Cookies, Crystalized Gingersnaps, and Honey and Tea Jammers!   Who can make that decision?

I finally settled on Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies.  However, I did make the other two cookies as well because I just couldn't decided!

After tasting them all with a cup of tea I know I made the right decision.  Shortbread is just an awesome cookie to pair with any hot beverage.   I paired mine with lemon tea and they were amazing.

These are not your typical shortbread cookie.  Sure they are made with a ton of butter and are super flaky like shortbread.   The difference is in how they are baked.

Instead of shaping the cookie and then baking it these are pressed into a pie pan.  Once they are baked they are sliced into pie like slices and served that way.  It's actually a really smart and easy way to make this type of cookie.

Now lets talk about the flavor.   The actual cookie has just a hint of lemon juice and a hint of lemon extract in it.   It has a very light lemon flavor to it.

There are also poppyseeds in the shortbread which really come through in the flavor.  The lemon flavor comes after the cookies are baked.

I made a bright lemon drizzle to put on the cookies and it was delicious.   It was the perfect compliment to these buttery cookies.

So what are you waiting for?   Grab yourself some lemons, a few mugs of hot tea, and a couple of friends and have yourself an amazing tea time!

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Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies

Yield: 1 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

A buttery shortbread cookie studded with poppyseeds and drizzled with lemon icing.

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Ingredients

For the cookies:

• ⅓ c. sugar
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 c. flour
• 1 Tablespoon poppyseeds

For the icing:

• ½ c. powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray then line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine the sugar, salt, and butter and mix until combined.
3. Stir in the vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon juice and mix well.
4. Add in the flour and poppyseeds and mix until you have a bowl of soft crumbs.
5. Dump the mixture into the prepared pie pan. Press them into the pan making sure to cover the entire surface of the pan.
6. Using a fork, poke holes in the dough to form 12 wedges of cookies. Go around the outside edge of the cookies with the fork as well.
7. Bake for 25 minutes turning the pan halfway through baking. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
8. Gently life the parchment paper out of the pan to remove the cookies. Be careful as this dough will crack extremely easily. I used a spatula to help me get under the cookies.
9. Use a knife and cut the cookies on the guiding lines to make 12 wedges. Cool completely.
10. To make the icing combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice and ix until combined. Drizzle over top of cooled cookies and allow to sit for 10 minutes to harden.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from Dorie's Cookies by Dorie Greenspan, page 188.

More Cookie Recipes:

• Rich Tea Biscuits from Food Lust People Love
• Chai-Scotti from What Smells So Good?
• Chocolate Covered Digestive Biscuits from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon Blueberry Shortbread Cookies from Upstate Ramblings
• Honey and Vanilla Madeleines from A Baker's House