Spotty Lemon Sugar Cookies

There were lemons on my counter. Delicious, wonderful lemons. Grown in a friendly co-worker's backyard.

I really think they are more lemony than the ones from the store. They definitely have more juice in them.

Mmmmmm.

So that they end up in delightful baked good form, and not mooshy moldy unhappiness in the fruit bowl, I researched cookies.

These are care of Martha, so I knew that they had to be good. But - I was almost out of butter. I had to sub in mascarpone, but that turned out to be a wonderful addition.

So wonderful, in fact, that I managed to lose a cookie between the time when I pulled them out of the oven and when I found my camera to take a "finished" photo. You can guess who the handsome cookie thief is.

I think he's on cookie number 3, now that I've moved from the kitchen to the computer. "These are better when they cool down..." he just mumbled through the crumbs.

The rest of the cookies better enjoy the time they've got left. It won't be long.

Start off with lemon juice. Reduce it down by half.

Then toss in a stick of butter.

Next up, cream butter, mascarpone and sugar together.

Add an egg.

Then the lemony butter, some vanilla, and some zest. 

Whisk up the flour, baking soda and salt.

Gently mix that in too. Add the poppy seeds.  

Make little balls and roll them in some zest & sugar.

Smoosh the balls with a water glass to form little discs. 

Sprinkle them with a few more poppy seeds.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges.

Prepare to defend them from the cookie snatcher!



Spotty Lemon Sugar Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen
Barely adapted from Martha

1 1/2 sticks of butter
4 tbsp mascarpone cheese
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 c.)
Zest of 3 lemons
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp poppy seeds (plus a bit extra for sprinkling)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small saucepan over medium heat, reduce the lemon juice down by about half. It took me the time that it took the oven to preheat to reduce it down. Add 1 stick of butter to the lemon syrup and let it melt.

In a large bowl, cream together the 1/2 stick of butter, the mascarpone, and 1 cup of the sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the egg and lemony butter to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat well. Then add in the vanilla and 2/3 of the lemon zest. Gently beat in the flour. Then mix in the poppy seeds. The batter will be pretty loose.

In a smallish bowl, mix together the 3/4 c. sugar and the rest of the lemon zest.

Spoon out a dough ball about the size of a walnut, roll in the lemon sugar. Place on a lined baking sheet. Take a water glass and dip the bottom in the lemon sugar. Smoosh down the ball into a pancake. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Repeat to fill tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies just barely brown.