May 15, 2026
Lemon Cookies
It’s amazing to me how quickly time flies. I can’t believe it’s been a month already. It’s very exciting to see that people are showing up for Ideas in Food. We appreciate all of you. Thanks for spending your time with us.
When I look around and it’s like all of the old school food blogs are mostly gone. I suppose TikTok is the current independent publishing platform of choice, but I miss being able to surf the net and find interesting writing in unexpected places. It’s not that it doesn’t exist, it just feels harder to find. Substack has reinvigorated the newsletter format. It reminds me of back when I subscribed to Simple Cooking by John Thorne. It was always an unexpected pleasure when it showed up in my mailbox and writing about things that I enjoy and that also make other people happy is something that I strive to do myself.
During the height of allergy season, when my bucket is overflowing, there are a number of ingredients that become difficult for me to tolerate and having interesting finishing spices in the peppermill allows Alex and Amaya to spice things up on their own while still sharing a common meal with me. Alex has recently loaded up our second peppermill with a blend of black and Szechuan peppercorns. The combination of peppercorns elevate the idea of adding a little bit of finishing spice to a dish to a thoughtful experience. The Szechuan peppercorns have a bright, floral, slightly astringent aroma that contrasts with the deeper, earthier, richer scent of the black peppercorns. Together they create a more rounded flavor that hits the palate on multiple levels, leaving a soft, tingling heat in their wake.
Alex and I are kind of known for having black thumbs. When we were working at a restaurant in Maine, we were lucky enough to have a master gardener on premise and she supplied us with an abundant and diverse supply of fresh herbs. It was so much fun to cook with them. Over the years we have attempted to grow our own with mixed results. I am currently working on a recipe testing project that leans heavily into fresh herbs and since the price to quality ratio of supermarket herbs is not in my favor, we’re giving an herb garden another go. Hopefully we can keep them alive at least through the fall and bring some of our favorite flavors back into our kitchen this summer.
Cookies have always been one of my favorite topics to explore. You would think that the current cookie craze would be good for me, but oversized, undercooked, overly sweet cookies do not bring me joy. So, mostly I make my own. It works out better that way. I have had lemon sugar cookies on the brain for the last month. My allergies are building from their winter low. I am wishing for something bright and comforting in a small bite to cut the haze. The weather has been fluctuating between weirdly hot or damp and cold. Something about spring and the promise of fleeting sunshine makes me think of citrus.
These cookies are soft and tender, slightly domed, cake-y cookies. They require cream cheese and fresh lemons. The dough can be scooped and frozen, so you can bake off a few fresh cookies when the desire hits. As we tested the recipe, we tried them with lemon sugar, with lemon glaze, and with both sugar and glaze. The third version was the charm. The glaze makes the cookies softer and cakier, while the sugar adds texture and hint of crunch and both of them amplify the lemon flavor overall. One cookie is just enough to make me happy without the guilt of two or three. One cookie every day is pretty much the perfect amount for me.
Lemon Cookies:
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
½ cup / 113 grams unsalted butter, diced, room temperature
½ cup / 114 grams cream cheese, diced, room temperature
1 ½ cups / 180 grams powdered sugar
½ teaspoon / 2 grams baking powder
¼ teaspoon / 1.5 grams fine sea salt
1 lemon, grated zest and juice
1 large egg
1 teaspoon / 2.5 grams vanilla extract or paste
1 ¾ cups / 210 grams AP flour
¼ cup / 50 grams sugar
¼ teaspoon / 0.5 grams ground cardamom
Zest from 1 lemon
Lemon glaze:
1 cup / 120 grams powdered sugar
1 lemon, grated zest and juice
Small pinch of salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 375°F. If you plan to bake the cookies later, follow the instructions below and preheat the oven when you are ready to bake your cookies.
Put the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Mix on low until the mixture comes together in a cohesive mass. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low until the egg is fully absorbed. Stop the mixer and add all of the flour and mix on low until the dough comes together. Add the lemon juice and mix on low until it is fully absorbed into the dough.
Scoop the dough with a ¾ ounce (purple) scoop. You can lay these out on a sheet pan, cover the dough, and refrigerate or freeze them or use the dough immediately. If you freeze them, when you’re ready to bake, pull out the dough balls, roll them in the prepared sugar, and lay them out on a sheet pan before turning on the oven to preheat. The dough will defrost slightly as the oven heats.
Once you’ve portioned the dough, put the ¼ cup sugar, ground cardamom, and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix well to blend. Roll each ball of dough in the lemon sugar and lay them out on two sheet pans in a 3X4 grid, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each ball of dough for baking. If you are using pre-portioned dough, when you’re ready to bake, pull out the dough balls, roll them in the prepared sugar, and lay them out on a parchment-lined sheet pan before turning on the oven to preheat. The dough will defrost slightly as the oven heats. Frozen dough may require an extra minute or two in the oven.
Bake the cookies for 8 minutes and then rotate the dough front to back, and top rack to middle rack in the oven. Bake for 4 minutes, until the cookies are just set and feel firm when the tops are lightly pressed with a fingertip. They will still be quite pale on top.
Place the sheet pans on racks and let cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile make the glaze, if you are using it. Put the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl and mix well to blend. I like to dip the cookies while they are still slightly warm for a thinner glaze. You can also wait until they are fully cool for a thicker coating. Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze and then flip them over and place them back on the parchment-lined sheet pan so the glaze can set.
Enjoy the edible sunshine!