For Chanukah this year my sister in law asked me to make the challah which I foolishly didn’t take a picture of before we tore into it. Six Strands! Ugh! Anyway, she also asked me to make some cookies, a request I am always happy to fulfill. I wanted something simple but tasty. Once again Cookiepedia by Stacy Adiamando came to the rescue. The last wonder I made from this book was my Orange Cardamom Cornmeal cookies.
The Honey Lemon Drops are petite little cookies but don’t let that fool you, they provide a wondrous little burst of lemon and honey flavor. Originally I pretty much followed the recipe as written (unusual I know) but although tasty I felt they were too salty; my family agreed. So the second time around I fiddled with the recipe, cutting the salt and tweaking the sugar.
The end result is a chewy, flavorful little cookie.
This batch, well okay some of this batch, was packaged up and given as gifts to a few people at work along with a little knitted ornament I made for each person. Here it is on a co-worker’s tree!
The trick to getting these cookies even in size and shape is to use a small cookie (mini ice cream scoop) and drop the dough onto the parchment lined sheet pan.
To flatten them I simply used one or two fingers to gently press them into disks. They will expand some but not much. Tip: If your fingers get a little sticky you can wipe them off or dip into a little water, just be careful not to transfer the water to the cookie.
Once they have completely cooled lay them out on a piece of parchment paper and drizzle the glaze over the cookies. I just used the whisk I blended the glaze ingredients with to do this.
These cookies are particularly tasty with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea…just in case you were wondering.
Honey Lemon Drops
Adapted from “The Cookiepedia” by Stacy Adiamando
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup combine the egg and honey, stirring until well combined. Set aside
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest.
5. With the mixer running, add the egg/honey mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined.
6. Slowly add the flour to the wet ingredients in three increments, blending until mostly combined between each. After the last addition blend until the dough looks smooth.
7. Using a small cookie scoop, drop the dough onto one parchment lined sheet pan about an inch or so apart.
8. Gently pat each cookie ball down into a disk.
9. Bake for about 11 minutes or until you just see a light brown tinge around the edges. Let stand on the sheet for about 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Repeat with more dough and the second sheet pan, allowing the first one to cool before reusing.
The Glaze
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons half and half or milk.
Once the cookies are cooled, combine the sugar and half and half with a whisk until well combined. If the glaze is too thick add a little more half and half one teaspoon at a time. You want it to remain a bit on the thick side.
Place the on some parchment paper and drizzle the glaze using the whisk over the cookies. They will need to set for about an hour or so, then you can place them in an airtight container.
NOTE: The glaze may be made and drizzled over the cookies the next day.
