Lemons have always had a special place in my heart, childhood memories made them a sentimental ingredient to me. When I was a baby my brother and dad loved to give me lemon slices, just to see the silly faces I would pull. The thing is, as a toddler, I wouldn’t just bite into the bitter flavor once I would keep grabbing at the slices, they were offering me. Always wanting more but also always pulling a silly face with each bite. As I got older, while I no longer fell for their little lemon tricks, I still craved all things lemon…just maybe not a whole lemon on its own.
To this day it is a life goal of mine, even if it is a silly one, to own my very a little lemon tree. There is just something about their bright color and versatile refreshing taste that is so unique to me. I use lemon in so many recipes from soups, pasta dinners, and of course in a lot of my desserts and I also use lemon patterns to decorate my life whenever I can.
The other day I was craving a raspberry, blueberry, lemon loaf that I make but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of baking an entire loaf of lemon bread, so I got to the kitchen to invent these small-batch lemon “loaf” cookies, with a few of my favorite lemon combinations. Lemon poppyseed. Lemon Raspberry. And Lemon Blueberry.
These little cookies hit that lemon spot perfectly for me and were simple to make! Not too sweet, not too bitter, and perfect with a cup of iced tea on a hot summer day, or a glass of warm tea for a rainy evening!
Lemon Loaf Cookies
Little Soft, Pillowy bites of Lemon-paradise.
Makes: 12 Cookies
Prep Time (Dough chilling time included): 20 minutes
Baking Time: 11 minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes
Utensils: Hand or Stand Mixer (optional, but it will take a lot of work to cream the dough by hand); Two Cookie Sheets
Difficulty:
Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter
1 and 1/3 cup flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 fresh lemon zested
½ of a fresh lemon juiced (using the same lemon above that you just zested)
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tbs poppy seeds
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1/3 cup fresh raspberries
Method
1* Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2* Prepare two cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper, or by greasing the bottoms.
3* In a small bowl whisk together 1 1/3 cup of flour, ¼ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt until combined.
4* In a medium bowl using a hand or stand mixer, cream together ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, and 1 tbs brown sugar. Be sure to not overmix this mixture but be sure that it is creamy and there are no clumps of butter or sugar visible.
5* Add in the yolk of 1 egg, your lemon zest, vanilla, and lemon juice to your creamed butter. Beat in these ingredients until just combined.
6* Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients dividing it out into about 3 separate pours and beating the mixture together after each pour. This makes sure that the ingredients are well combined but not overmixed, be sure to only beat the dough mixture together until just combined.
7* divide your dough into 3 separate bowls. In one bowl add the blueberries and gently mix them into the dough (I used my hands for this step), in another add the poppy seeds, and in the last bowl of dough add your raspberries.
8* Once each mixture of the dough is combined use your hands to roll the cookie dough into small balls, equal in size, for even baking. Place your cookie dough balls onto your prepared baking sheets leaving 2 inches in between each ball to prevent them from spreading onto each other when baking.
9* Place your prepared cookie dough balls into the refrigerator to chill for at least 10 minutes.
10* Bake your cookies for 9-11 minutes.
11* Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring them onto a wire drying rack to completely cool down.
Et Voila
A Few Lil’ Notes:
When you add the fresh fruit to the divided lemon dough it will become wet and a little difficult to work with, with a spoon. I used my hands to form the dough into even balls instead.
These cookies are Chase, my dog, approved…although he couldn’t have any, he really wanted one and gave me the cold shoulder all afternoon for not giving him one. If you like a fainter note of lemon in your cookies you can add less lemon juice, then the recipe calls for.
This combo works with so many dried or fresh fruit fillings, so don’t be afraid to experiment and let me know what you create! Strawberry lemon, lemon blueberry poppyseed, even lemon blackberry would all be divine! I would love to see your inventions!
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