Servings: 30 soft cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (scoop and level to measure)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup + 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest (from about 2 medium lemons)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy (occasionally stop to scrape down bowl throughout mixing process).  I only had one lemon on hand, so I zested that and supplemented with dried lemon zest (about 2 tsp).  There was enough juice in that one lemon for these cookies plus some bonus lemon glaze (see below).

Mix in eggs. Add lemon juice, lemon extract, vanilla extract and mix until combined. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Pour powdered sugar into a small bowl. Scoop dough out about 1 1/2 Tbsp at a time (25g each) then drop in powdered sugar and roll to evenly coat and shape into a soft ball.

Transfer to a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheet, repeat with remaining dough and space cookies 2-inches apart on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 10 – 13 minutes.

Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Bonus:  If a little glaze is desired, wait until the cookies have cooled, and then whisk about 5 tsp of lemon juice into 1 cup of powdered sugar.  If too thick, add more lemon juice a teaspoon at a time.  If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.  You want the glaze to be thin enough to pipe onto the cookies but not so thin that it’s watery.  Easy piping trick: place the freshly mixed glaze into a plastic sandwich bag, seal the top and snip off one of the bottom corners.  You can now easily squeeze out a squiggle of glaze on each cookie!