1 cup butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream the butter and cream cheese well. Add the sugar and mix. Add egg yolks, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix well. Gradually add flour and salt. Shape into small loafs and place in cookie press (I have a Wilton manual cookie press that works great!) Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
These are great for holiday baking, especially to give away. I decorate with colored sugars and sprinkles before baking. I also add food coloring to portions of the dough to get some variety. Of course you can also play around with icing after they've cooled too. I just like to go icing free so that I can put them in gift bags without damaging them.
Lindsey, the blogger of Cafe Johnsonia fame, saw my disaster epic & very generously posted revised directions for those of us who aren't lucky enough to own a food processor. Thanks Lindsey!
I found this recipe at Cafe Johnsonia. (If you already read this on our blog, I'm sorry.) It was kind of a disaster at first because I don't have a food processor or parchment paper, so the mixing took forever & the cookies stuck to the cookie sheet really badly. I also sliced the cookies thicker than she said because I like my cookies soft, not crunchy, so it only yielded 19 cookies (including the broken ones), not the 30 it says. Lastly, the "glaze" became more of a "paste" by the time I added as much powdered sugar as the recipe called for, so I had to add more lemon juice, which made it almost too lemony. However, after they had sat in a tupperware for a day or two, the flavors all melded together & they tasted FABULOUS.
(Sorry about the picture... I'm trying to teach myself food photography with a point-&-shoot digital, & it's an uphill battle.)
Glazed Lemon Cookies
From Cooks' Illustrated
MAKES ABOUT 30
Lemon Cookies
¾ cup (5 1/4 oz.) granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. grated zest plus 2 Tbsp. juice from two lemons
1 ¾ cups (8 1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes
1 lg. egg yolk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze
1 Tbsp. softened cream cheese
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 ½ cups (6 oz.) powdered sugar
For the cookies:
1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of food processor, process granulated sugar and zest until it looks damp and zest is thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds.
3. Add flour, salt, and baking powder; pulse to combine, about 10 one-second pulses.
4. Scatter butter chunks over. Pulse until mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 one-second pulses.
5. In a measuring cup or small bowl, beat lemon juice, yolk, and vanilla until combined. With machine running, add juice/yolk mixture in slow, steady stream (process should take about 10 seconds); continue processing until dough begins to form ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.
6. Turn dough and any dry bits out onto counter (or board); working quickly, gently knead the dough together to ensure no dry bits remain and dough is homogeneous.
7. Roll dough into cylinder approximately 10 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Center dough on piece of parchment (waxed paper or plastic wrap will work in a pinch ). Fold paper over dough. Grasp one end of parchment. With other hand, use bench scraper to firmly press parchment against dough to form uniform cylinder. Roll parchment and twist ends together to form tight seal.
8. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough log from wrapping and, using a sharp chef's knife, slice dough into rounds 3/8-inch thick. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
9. Bake until centers of cookies just begin to color and edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet about 5 minutes, using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature before glazing.
Lemon Glaze:
1. Whisk cream cheese and lemon juice in a medium nonreactive bowl until no lumps remain. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.
2. When cookies have cooled, working one at a time, spoon scant teaspoon glaze onto each cookie and spread evenly with the back of spoon. Let cookies stand on a wire rack until glaze is set and dry, about 1 hour.
This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen. I have a freezer full of grated zucchini from last summer's garden that I wanted to use up before our move. I've tried a few recipes. I did this one yesterday and like it the best.
3 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. water
2 c. grated zucchini
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 c. chopped walnuts & pecans (I left this out because Anthony hates them)
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini, and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry. Add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, at 350 for 1 hr.
This recipe was surprisingly good...we really enjoyed it and it made a TON of leftovers that were scrumptious days afterwards!!Also, I doubled the sauce (we like our things saucy) and it was still really good and kept the flavor really well.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds turkey breast tenderloins
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons capers
Garnishes: lemon wedges, fresh Italian parsley
Preparation
Cut turkey into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/8-inch thickness, using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Combine flour, salt, and pepper, and dredge turkey in mixture.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter with oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey; cook, in batches, 1 1/2minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from skillet, and keep warm.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter, wine, and juice to skillet, stirring to loosen bits from bottom of skillet. Cook 2 minutes or just until thoroughly heated.
Stir in parsley, garlic, and capers; spoon over turkey. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately. Prep: 15 min., Cook: 15 min.
Note: Serve over hot cooked angel hair pasta, if desired.
This is my first post, so I thought I would warn all of you that since I sit at a desk all day doing little more than nothing, I'll probably be posting a lot. So I hope you don't get sick of me!!!
My mom sent me some of the juiciest, most delicious oranges you've ever seen from her backyard in my Easter "basket" on Thursday, so I thought I'd put them in a salad for dinner on Friday. I searched all over BHG.com & found a mandarin orange salad recipe that I tweaked a little. So here's the tweaked version (sans the raspberries in the BHG picture & with a little bit sweeter dressing); it turned out delicious!
Spring Orange Salad
1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. (& a bit) orange juice
1 Tbsp. (& a bit) olive oil
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
6 cups (I just used 1 bag) mixed greens like baby lettuce, spinach, etc.
1 orange, sectioned
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Combine vinegar, orange juice, olive oil, sugar, & mustard in a small tupperware container. Cover & shake well to mix.
Place greens & almonds in a salad bowl; toss with dressing.
Add orange sections; toss again & serve.
