Lemon Sugar Cookies

I love this sugar cookie recipe because it does not require butter at room temperature- that is, no pre-planning involved. As long as you have butter in the fridge, you can whip these up in no time- just cut the cold butter in chunks and cream with the sugar! Voila! You've got yourself some pretty good sugar cookies with minimal wait time! What is also great about this recipe is that because of the cold butter, the dough is very easy to roll and cut out and the cookies hold their shape really well with baking. What more can you ask for when sugar cookies are concerned? Well, taste of course- that's why I decided to boost the flavor with some fresh lemon juice and lemon zest and I think this really sealed the deal. The frosting, of course, had to be pink... :)) Just look at these babies:

Of course, since I made them for Teacher Appreciation Week, I had to incorporate a "Thank-you" somewhere. :) Piping it on almost 4 dozen cookies was definitely a labor of love, but my kids' teachers deserve it. :)

Lemon Sugar Cookies:

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold & cut into chunks
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
lemon zest of one lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. (You may want to freeze the cut out cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking- they will hold their shape better). Bake for 10 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Ice with your favorite icing. Since I am not too crazy about the taste of royal icing, I used the following recipe to which I added some lemon juice to carry out the lemon theme, but only vanilla extract would be fine too.

And here are my cookies, packaged for the teachers, along with spring flowers and some thank-you balloons too. :) 

Lemon Frosting:

• 2-2 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsps fresh lemon juice
• 3-4 Tbsp milk
• Coloring if desired

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and add a little more milk or powdered sugar to get the right consistency for spreading and/or piping.

Recipe for cookies adapted from: bakeat350
Recipe for frosting adapted from: melskitchencafe