Lemon cookies and family

Good morning!
This past weekend was great. Jono and I went up to Baywood to visit with my family. It was amazing. I love my family and I love Baywood. Its a little haven. So beautiful and calm. And my family is one of the best (And I'm not just saying that because some of them read this) it always amazes me how well everyone gets along. We also hike a great deal. So needless to say I love my family.

So for my family I made lemon cookies. Now I had made these before and they are super easy (which is why I can make them) And this time I added mint to the glaze. So here is the recipe.

Lemon cookies
(from real simple magazine)

Makes 48 cookies| Hands-On Time: 20m | Total Time: 1hr 45m

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more if necessary
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions

1. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
2. Divide the dough in half and shape into 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 350° F. Slice the logs into 3/8-inch-thick pieces and space them 1 1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, 16 to 20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and zest until it forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more lemon juice if necessary). Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.
   
   To wrap: Give a nut tin a second life. Wipe it clean with a damp towel, then peel off the label. Tie a bow with extra-wide ribbon to hide any glue remnants. Note: If nut allergies are a concern, use a coffee can instead.
   
   To freeze: Instead of refrigerating the dough, freeze the logs for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, cutting and baking the dough from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

Notes: So I added Fresh Mint to some of these. I did about half and half.
For the Mint
3 leaves fresh mint

Make glaze as directed above. Cut the mint into small pieces. ( I cut across in strips first then cut them smaller. ) Add these small pieces to the glaze and mix them in. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Glaze cookies as directed.


So there you go! They turned out tasting like mint lemonade which is what I was going for. I also think that the cookie base would support anything you wanted to put on them so feel free to mess around with it! They are also good plain with a cup of coffee.

hugs+kisses
mce