After reading the reviews I still tried the recipe sans lemon or vanilla extract. Instead I increased the lemon zest to 1 tablespoon. I rolled the dough out to 1/8" and baked for 10 minutes without using the sugar coating. The consistency was great; I got a nice golden color around the edges. I drizzled the cookies with an icing made from ~ 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 tbsp. lemon juice and ~ 1/4 tsp. lemon zest. I let the icing dry (about 1 hour) before stacking for storage. My daughters gave them a double thumbs-up for taste. Most of the flavor intensity came from the icing instead of the cookie. Remember that it's a lemon and butter cookie, and I tasted a good balance of both from my procedure.
These were very light and refreshing!! I substituted 1 teas vanilla and 1 teas lemon extract instead of the lemon juice. Instead of rolling I refrigerated the dough made into small balls and flattened out into circles. I used the sugar cookie icing recipe from this site! Very Yummy and easy! Thanks Kathleen!
All-in-all the recipe was pretty good. I would probably swap the lemon juice for the extract next time around. Also the thickness of the cookie as stated in the recipe is not correct. It says the dough should be rolled to 1/4" inch. Using this thickness the yield is approximately half of the 2 1/2 dozen stated. Not only is the yield cut in half but the cooking time hs to be almost doubled. I suggest rolling these to about 1/8" thickness.
This recipe is excellent! I added a little more lemon zest to the dough. I did not decorate with granulated sugar instead I made an icing with powdered sugar lemon juice and lemon zest. Every person that tried these cookies thought they were wonderful. Thank you for the recipe.
YUM! As a big lemon dessert person, I search high & low for decent lemon cookie recipes (no cake mix!!), and this one was a winner! It's still a tad soft and just lightly cakey in the center, but the edges were crisp and the flavor was really good. I followed the recipe as is, except I did not roll them out, just spooned them in sparse teaspoonfuls. I did put sugar on the tops, too. I usually prefer the lemon flavor to be more pronounced, but the light, delicate lemon flavor in this went well with it being a "butter cookie", so I really can't complain. I decided to make a simple, easy glaze to top them. I put about 1/4 cup of sugar in a glass mixing cup, added just enough lemon juice to barely wet it, then microwaved for 1 min 10 seconds, till bubbly. then I stirred in about 1.5 oz of cream cheese and mixed w/a fork until the cream cheese was blended through. The lemon cream cheese glaze really amped up this cookie, give it a try.
Hello Kathleen I made your lemon cookies today...they were just what I was looking for crisp sweet and good!!! Thank you for a "real" leon cookies without the cake mix.. only thing is I use graded lemon rind...didn't have any lemon zest..I think it is the same.
I don't understand how the taste can be so varied when you follow a recipe exactly as stated. I thought these were bland. I tried various icings to "fix" the flavor. This is first time that I have tossed a batch in the garbage. Sorry.
Just made these last night and followed all directions with the exception of lemon zest didn't have any. The dough was easy to work with and as I couldn't wait I only refrigerated it until my oven preheated. Rolled small dough balls and rolled again in granulated sugar flattened slightly and baked for eight minutes perfect. There is a distinct tang of lemon so I can see why some subbed vanilla and omitted the lemon entirely. I also flattened the dough I didn't use last night cut out small heart shapes this a.m. and baked also for eight minutes after sprinkling with red sugar for Valentine's lovely. Such an easy recipe will make again as I need more heart shaped cookies - will try vanilla flavoring alone this time. ( Also my butter was really really soft as it was sitting out near a heat vent made no difference that I can see in how cookie turned out.)
Easy to prepare however not much lemon flavor
