I was looking for a bright lemon cookie that I could take to game night. I had all the ingredients on hand for these – too bad I didn’t notice the fridge time prior to starting the batch. They need to chill for 2 hours to get nice and firm before slicing. Sadly – that means I couldn’t finish them in time to share with my friends tonight. I wonder what to do with the half batch I haven’t eaten on my own. Hmmmm. If you like lemon, these are for you! These  cookies  pack a whollup of lemon flavor thanks to fresh lemon zest and juice in the cookie, as well as a lemon cream cheese glaze on top. Yum.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Glazed Lemon Cookies (America’s Test Kitchen)

3/4 C granulated sugar
2 T grated fresh lemon zest
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/2 t vanilla extract

Glaze
1 T cream cheese, softened
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar

For the cookies: Process the granulated sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor until the sugar is pale yellow and damp, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine, about 10 pulses. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 pulses.

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla together. Do this at the last minute – if the lemon juice and egg sit together too long, they will curdle. With the machine running, add the lemon juice mixture through the feed tube in a slow steady stream, about 10 seconds. Continue to process until the dough begins to form into a ball, 10-15 seconds.

Transfer the dough to a clean counter and roll it into a 10-inch log – about 2 inches thick. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours). A trick to keeping your dough in a round shape while cooling is to cut a paper towel roll lengthwise and set the dough inside…it keeps the side the dough is resting on from going flat.

Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice the dough into 3/8 inch-thick cookies. Lay cookies on the prepared baking sheets spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through cooking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

For the Glaze: Whisk the cream cheese and lemon juice together in a medium bowl until smooth, then whisk in the confectioners’ sugar. Spoon a teaspoon of the glaze onto the center of each cookie and spread it out evenly with th back of the spoon. Let the glaze dry completely, about 30 minutes, before serving.