Lemon Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze

Delicate and small, these crispy Lemon Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze have the perfect mix of lemon and real vanilla bean flavors.

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Delicate and small, these crispy Lemon Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze have the perfect mix of lemon and real vanilla bean flavors.

You know how people build up tolerance to drugs over time?  I worry sometimes that this has happened to me, except instead of drugs, it’s lemon.  I’ll make a thing, sweet or savory, and my husband will taste it, and tell me that eating it (whatever it is) is like being punched in the face with lemon, and there I am, shoveling food into my face and thinking “this could use a little more lemon.”

So when I told him that I was planning on making these lemon cookies, he did what he always did when I mention anything lemon related, which is to roll his eyes at me and make a snarky comment about how he can’t wait to shove a whole lemon in his face.

But honestly, we were both pleasantly surprised.  These cookies are crisp and delicate with a very subtle lemon flavor.  The original recipe called for a lemon glaze, which probably would have upped the lemon factor significantly, but I love love love lemon and vanilla together, and I was excited to use the vanilla beans I just bought, so I decided to up the fancy-ness and make a vanilla bean glaze.  I’m so glad I did.  It was incredibly delicious and also very very pretty.

Like most of my cookie recipes, this one comes by way of America’s Test Kitchen (with a few adaptations) so it’s sure to be a winner every time.

Making Lemon Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze

• Start by mixing the together the dry ingredients, the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Then in a stand mixer, beat together the room temperature butter and sugar until light and fluffy (at least 5 minutes).  Add the lemon juice, egg yolk and lemon extract to the butter and sugar mixture.

• Add the flour in three additions, mixing after each addition.

• Once the dough comes together, you’ll divide it in half and form 2 5-inch discs.  Wrap those in plastic wrap and let them rest in fridge for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours.

• When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325.  Roll the dough out into a 10 inch wide, ¼ inch thick circle, and use a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out circles.  Once you’ve gotten as much as you can out of the first roll, gather the scraps and repeat until you cant get any more cookies.  Repeat that process with the second disc.  You should have between 40-45 cookies total between the two discs.

• Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges.  Let them cool completely before glazing.

To Make the Vanilla Bean Glaze

• In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla bean seeds.  You could also make the glaze using pure vanilla extract and it will still be delicious, it just wont have the little flecks of vanilla bean.

• To glaze the cookies, dip them one at a time in the glaze, and then turn the cookies around in your hand to let any extra drip off one side.  The glaze should be thick enough that there’s not much “dripping” happening.  Let the glaze set for about 20 minutes before eating.

• If you’re packing these up in a Tupperware container, use sheets of wax paper between the layers of cookies to keep the glaze from sticking.

If you like these cookies, check out these other cookie recipes:

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

S’mores Cookies

Yield

40

Author

Sara Rauckhorst

Prep time

10 Min

Cook time

15 Min

Inactive time

1 Hour

Total time

1 H & 25 M

Print

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Lemon Thins with Vanilla Bean Glaze

Delicate and small, these crispy cookies have the perfect mix of lemon and real vanilla bean flavors.

Ingredients

Lemon Thins

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
•  1 large egg yolk
• 1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract

Vanilla Bean Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons milk
• Half a vanilla bean*

Instructions

To Make Lemon Thins

1. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. 
2. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice, egg yolk and lemon extract, and mix until combined.
4. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour in three additions until just combined.  
5. Transfer the dough to the counter, divide in half, and form each half into a 5 inch disc.  Wrap the discs tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.  Remove one disc from the fridge and knead the dough 3-5 times to make it more easily rollable.   Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick, about a 10 inch circle.  
7. Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can, and then reroll the scraps to get as many cookies as you can - should be about 20 cookies per disc.  Repeat with second disc.  Bake cookies until the edges are slightly brown - about 12-14 minutes.  Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

To Make Vanilla Bean Glaze

1. In a bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and milk - start with 1 ½ tablespoons and if it's still too thick add the next ½ tablespoon.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut the vanilla bean in half, and scrape the seeds out of the pod into the glaze.  Stir the vanilla into the glaze - it should be dotted with little flecks of vanilla.
3. Working with 1 cookie at a time, dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze, and then let the glaze set for 15-20 minutes before eating.

Notes:

*you can also use ½ teaspoon vanilla extract if you dont want to use a vanilla bean (you just wont get the flecks)

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