Glazed Lemon Cookies Recipe

Now that summer is getting closer, I’m starting to crave desserts that are on the lighter side of things. Although I have nothing against a rich, moist and decadent chocolate cake, when the sun starts shining through these lemon glazed cookies sound like a much better idea.

A tip for this recipe is to start out with room temperature softened butter. You know it is soft enough when you can easily leave a thumbprint, like so:

Also, be sure to use really good quality butter since it will have a much lower water content that those of poorer quality.

You could also play around with the recipe and make your cookies a little larger, but there’s something about the mini portions that makes them taste even more decadent.

When baking the cookies be sure to place the baking sheet on the upper rack of your oven to prevent the bottoms from browning too quickly. You know that the cookies are done when they start to get a nice golden colour underneath.

When making the glaze you can always add more powdered sugar to thicken it up, or more lemon juice to thin it out, but you are looking for a pourable consistency.

I have found that it is always easier to dip (or even double dip) the cookies into the glaze, however if you want to you can always spoon the glaze on top, or even use a piping bag to create a design.

Once the glaze has set, serve the cookies with a cold, refreshing drink. Enjoy !

Glazed Lemon Cookies

• Servings: 35-37 cookies
• Time: 1h30min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

1. 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 171 g) softened unsalted butter
2. 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
3. 2 large egg yolks
4. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
7. Zest of 1 lemon
8. 1 cup (128 g) confectioner’s sugar
9. Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Using a stand mixer, beat the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy
2. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, lemon zest and salt until incorporated (be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl)
3. Slowly add in all-purpose flour and mix until fully incorporated
4. Divide the dough into two equal parts
5. Roll each piece of dough into a 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) diameter log, and wrap it in parchment paper
6. Refrigerate the logs for 30-40 minutes, or until firm to the touch
7. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C)
8. Once the logs have hardened, remove one of them from the fridge and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick slices (in the meantime be sure to keep the second log in the fridge)
9. Repeat for the second log
10. Lay out each cookie on a baking sheet
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the bottoms get a slight golden colour
12. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely
13. In the meantime, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice
14. Once the cookies have cooled, dip each one into the glaze
15. Allow the glaze to set and enjoy!

Optional: You can always double dip the cookies if you prefer a thicker layer of glaze

Note: You can also freeze the dough for up to 2 months after rolling it into a log, and simply cut it up and bake it for a slightly longer time.

Azeri Baklava (Azərbaycan Paxlavası)

Baklava (Pakhlava)

• Servings: 16-18
• Time: 1hr 45min
• Difficulty: Medium
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Ingredients: 

For the baklava:

• 1 Filo dough package (16 oz) thawed
• 0.5 lb walnuts
• 0.5 lb pecans
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup butter (melted) + more for greasing
• 1 egg yolk

For the syrup:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C)
2. Generously butter a 9×13 inch pan
3. In a food processor, ground the walnuts and pecans until they are finely chopped, but still have a few larger pieces to add some crunch
4. In a large bowl, mix the ground nuts with the sugar and spices
5. Place 1 fillo sheet in the pan, and using a pastry brush generously cover it with the melted butter
   • Making sure than each sheet is generously covered in butter, place 3 filo sheets on the base of the baklava
6. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the filling onto the filo sheets
7. For every layer above the base use 2 filo sheets, making sure to cover each of them in butter
8. Repeat steps 6-8 until you reach the top of the pan
9. For the final layer, use 3 filo sheets, similar to the base but do not spread butter on the final sheet
10. Using a pastry brush, spread the egg yolk on the final sheet to help with the browning in the oven
11. Grease a very sharp knife on both sides, and carefully cut in a diagonal crosshatch pattern
12. Take whole pecans and place them on each diamond shape
13. Bake baklava in the oven for about 50 minutes, or until golden and crispy
14. In the meantime in a medium saucepan over medium heat dissolve the sugar and water in a low simmer
15. Add in the honey and melt it completely
16. Remove from the stove and add in the vanilla extract
17. In the last 15 minutes of baking, take the baklava out of the oven and go over the pattern with a sharp knife, and pour the remaining melted butter over the cuts
18. Once the baklava is ready take it out of the oven and pour the syrup over it while it is still hot
19. Leave it to cool down before taking them out of the pan, and serve with a cup of black tea

Enjoy!