Lemon Sugar Cookies...

"When life hands you lemons,  make lemon sugar cookies." -me : )

I missed posting a recipe last week. Suddenly life has gotten very busy for me. We decided to put our house on the market again. It was on the market briefly last fall, but didn't sell. So we decided to let the holidays pass and try again this spring. And here it is, spring (though today Colorado is in the midst of a crazy spring snowstorm)! So this past week we had to get it ready for pictures for the MLS listing and edit out our personal stuff. Worst of all I had to really clear out my art studio space which makes me so sad to have so much of it inaccessible until the house sells. It's also my daughter's high school soccer season and with two-3 games a week, the hours/days just go by. I know, my story is nothing new. We are all trying to juggle life and responsibilities with the fun stuff (personally I am lobbying for a responsibility to fun ratio that's a little more evenly split-lol).

A couple weeks ago we met up with some old friends who had moved out of state and I made them a few goodies, including these Lemon Sugar Cookies. They are really simple but cheerful and bright with that nice fresh lemon taste. My two most favorite flavors in desserts are chocolate (duh) and lemon. Although hands down, anything chocolaty is my favorite, sometimes it's nice to have something less heavy and with the bright flavor only a lemon can bring to the party. Anyhow, this recipe is a great spring sweet  to add to your repertoire. Do you have any go to recipes that just shout spring to you? Please share! And if you like this cookie recipe, please post a comment. Introduce yourself and say hi. I'd love to meet you!

Lemon Sugar Cookies

3 3/4 cups ( 1 lb 2 ounces) all -purpose flour  (stir and spoon into measuring cup method)
1 Tablespoon baking powder*
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup  (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (14 ounces) granulated pure cane sugar
zest of 3 lemons (use this tool-so easy!)
juice of 1 lemon, set aside
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
​1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
yellow  or plain sanding sugar 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour , baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine butter, lemon zest and sugar. Cream together on low speed until well combined.

3. Add in eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Increase speed to medium and mix well. Reduce speed to low.

4. Stir in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer.

5. Scoop out dough and dip the top only in  sanding sugar of your choice. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Dip your  (clean, of course) pointer and middle finger into lemon juice and pat down the sugar on top of each dough ball. You can use a pastry brush, if you prefer not to get your fingers sticky.

6. Bake for 10- 12 minutes until lightly golden around edges and set. Do not over-bake.

I know they aren't much to look at , but they sure are tasty!   And just in case a plain cookie isn't enticing enough on its own, consider making ice cream sandwiches by encasing a scoop of raspberry,  blackberry or blueberry sorbet between two of these babies. Not a bad idea, I know! ;)

*Note: I live at about 5,00o feet above sea level, so I decrease the baking powder to 2 1/2 teaspoons, in case that is of use to anyone else.