Lemon Tea Cookies, 3 Ways
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I found this recipe many years ago. A friend came over after school, and we paged through my family’s cookbooks for baking inspiration. We hit upon this one, and it has remained a beloved recipe ever since.
The cookbook was an old, ringbound version of the red and white checkered Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook where pictures are given throughout, but not every recipe has a photo. This recipe fell among those unassuming, picture-less recipes. It was titled: “Lemon Tea Cookies.”
The name is fitting. Following the original recipe, these are light, none too sweet, and somewhere between a muffin and a cake and a scone with a delicate, crunchy sugar glaze. In other words, they make a perfect afternoon snack. (As such, my four year old daughter has declared them her favorite cookie.)
I’m giving the original recipe (only slightly tweaked) along with two ways to build upon that base and dress them up for occasions beyond snacking. One adds a pungent lemon frosting that makes for a sweeter, prettier, and full-out lemony treat — a pure lemon bomb. The other tops that with toasted coconut which rounds out and slightly mellows the tart lemon flavor with a nutty edge and brings the cookie to an elegant indulgence.
Do I have a favorite version? I can’t decide. Each varies enough from the one it built upon, they seem like different cookies. Maybe I should eat another one of each and get back to you…
Lemon Tea Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 lemon, preferably organic
1/4 cup milk
1 stick butter, softened
1 3/4 cup flour, divided
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350.
Measure sugar into a small bowl. Zest the entire lemon directly onto the sugar. Then, using your fingers, rub and mix the lemon zest throughout the sugar. Set aside.
Squeeze out all the lemon juice into a separate small bowl. Set aside.
Measure 1/4 cup milk in a small liquid measuring cup. Add 1 tbs of the lemon juice to the milk and mix well. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of the lemon sugar, all of the milk mixture, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg. Mix on low to bring together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat again until thoroughly combined into a thick, creamy batter.
Scrape down the sides again, and add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour. Beat again until well combined.
Using two spoons, dollop small amounts of batter onto ungreased baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. The cookies will spread and double (at least) when baking, so keep this in mind. If you’d like more uniform cookies, lightly wet your hands and roll the dollops of batter into balls.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
While cookies are baking, mix the remaining lemon juice (it should be about 2 tbs) with the remaining 1/4 cup of lemon sugar. Set aside.
When cookies are set in the middle and golden brown around the edges, remove from the oven. While they are still hot, brush with the lemon juice and sugar mixture. Allow cookies to rest on pans for a couple minutes before moving to racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Frosted Lemon Tea Cookies
Use the plain Lemon Tea Cookies as the base
Ingredients:
1 lemon, preferably organic
2 tbs butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Zest the entire lemon into the bowl of a stand mixer. Juice all of the lemon into a separate small bowl and set aside.
Measure the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and 2 tbs of the lemon juice to the zest in the mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until creamy, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add the remaining lemon juice if necessary to get a thick, creamy consistency good for spreading and frosting. If still too thick, add water or milk (in little bits — about 1 tbs at a time) until it reaches a desired consistency.
Frost completely cooled cookies and let the frosting set before stacking on top of each other. Enjoy!
Coconut Crusted Lemon Tea Cookies
Use the Frosted Lemon Tea Cookies as the base
Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut
Directions:
Keep the oven at 350. Put coconut on baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and golden. Keep an eye on it! Coconut can burn easily. If it is cooking unevenly, make sure to stir it every couple minutes. Once well golden, remove from oven and scrape into a small bowl to stop it from baking further on the pan. Let cool.
Take Frosted Lemon Tea Cookies and dip frosted side down into the bowl of toasted coconut. (Don’t let the frosting set before dipping. Otherwise, the coconut will not stick to the cookies.) Enjoy!
Adapted from The Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook.