Lemon Sugar Cookies remind me of Spring which is why I made them for my Spring Series. The cookies have a fresh and lemony flavor from the lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and pure lemon extract. The cookie texture is chewy and the vanilla sugar highlights the lemon flavor in every bite. I use a bunch of different cookie cutters and busy rabbits wafer paper designs from Fancy Flours, and imprint cookie stamps with 3 designs. I decorated bunnies, chicks, baskets, bunny tracks, bunny tails, carrots and lambs. It was quite relaxing and enjoyable decorating the cookies and because my life has been so hectic lately, I needed this. Although my allergies are terrible during this season, I love when flowers bloom and the leaves on the trees are back. I love hearing the birds chirping in the early morning and the brightness from sunrise illuminating our abode day to day. Enjoy Spring and give these cookies a try.
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| Spring Lemon Cookies |
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| Spring Lemon Cookies |
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| Cute Bunnies |
5 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour
Zest of 2 Lemons
3 tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 1/2 cups Vanilla Sugar
1 teaspoon Coarse Salt
2 cups (4 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Large Eggs
1 tablespoon Pure Lemon Extract
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| Bunny Tails |
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| Busy Rabbits Wafer Paper Designs |
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| Jumping Bunnies with dessicated coconut on the ears and tails |
Directions
Whisk together flour and salt; set aside.
Cream the butter and vanilla sugar in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.
Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 more seconds.
Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 more seconds.
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| Baskets with candy decorations and bows from Fancy Flours |
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| Family of Chicks, design from LilaLoa |
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| Easter Eggs |
Turn off mixer and add the flour mixture and cover the mixer with a large kitchen towel.
Turn mixer on low speed, and mix until incorporated.
The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.
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| Chicks and Lambs |
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| Carrots |
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| Lambs; body covered with dessicated coconut |
Take half of the dough leaving unused dough covered with plastic wrap in fridge until ready to use.
Heat oven to 350°F.
Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.
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| Imprint Cookies Stamps: Hatching Chick, Carrot, Bunny Tails |
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| Fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and eggs |
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| Cookie dough done and ready to chill |
Place onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 15-20 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes.
Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.
Decorate once cookies have cooled completely.
To make the grass for my 3 baskets, I put about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut in a plastic sandwich size bag and added 2 drops of leaf green color and 1 teaspoon of water. With the bag sealed, I massaged it until the coconut turned green. It only takes a few minutes.
To add rosy cheeks to the bunnies, I took a q-tip and dipped into watermelon color luster dust and gently pressed over dry icing.
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| Icing in Sweet SugarBelle icing bottles and tipless bags and tips from Cookie Countess |
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| Basket set up |
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Baskets with 3 weave designs. I had no clue how to do it so made these up
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Large Batch Royal Icing
Ingredients8 Egg Whites
8 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
12 cups Confectioners'/Powdered Sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla Extract
1-2 teaspoons Water, if needed
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| Working on LilaLoa Chicks |
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| Working on the Bunnies |
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| Bunnies setting; very little icing on these cuties |
Directions
In a large bowl, add powdered sugar; set aside.
In a bowl, add egg whites.
In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.
Transfer the egg white mixture to a stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.
Add vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.
With mixer speed on low, slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.
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| Bunny Tails, Chicks, Carrots setting |
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| Wafer Paper Busy Rabbits Designs and Bunny Tracks setting |
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| Busy Rabbits Wafer Paper Designs and Bunny Tracks setting |
I separated the icing in plastic containers with lids according to the different colors I needed.
I used Soft Gel Paste Food Color in various colors: teal, turquoise, lemon yellow, pink, violet, orange, buckeye brown and kelly green. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you have the color you need.
Keep the containers covered until you are ready to color.
I transferred the icing immediately into squeeze bottles and some into tipless icing bags I bought with tip clips from The Cookie Countess.
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| Lambs, Cookie Stamp Designs and Bunnies setting |
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| Lambs and Cookie Stamps Designs setting |
Use a cookie stick to reach edges, and to pop any air bubbles.
Add sprinkles, confetti, sugar pearls, dragees, candy decorations, etc. over wet icing.
If you are doing layers over the cookies let the base layer dry overnight.
I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writer Food Decorating Pens (Certified U.S. food grade) for some of the designs and to outline designs.
Let cookies dry overnight.
For further information:
For the LilaLoa Easter Chick tutorial visit:
https://www.lilaloa.com/2016/03/how-to-make-decorated-easter-chick.html
For the candy decorations, wafer paper and more visit Fancy Flours:
https://www.fancyflours.com/
For the tiplesss bags, tips and more visit The Cookie Countess:
https://www.thecookiecountess.com/
Enjoy!
-Sophia/Two Frys
