Thursday, March 17, 2011

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies

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Happy St Patrick's Day! I thought I'd celebrate by piping some green shamrocks on cookies. Great, in theory - right? In reality, my piping skills pretty much suck, and I'm not even sure if a shamrock is supposed to have three or four petals. I went for four, which is considered lucky in Swedish.

The cookies are excellent, and very easy to make. Just mix the dough, chill, slice and bake.

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies
makes about 50 cookies

200 g butter
1/2 tsp salt (if you're using unsalted butter, if not, omit)
100 g sugar
250 g all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean (the scrapings of)
zest of 1 lemon

Beat butter, salt and sugar until fluffy. It's easiest if the butter is at room temperature, but if you're in a hurry (like me) you can slice it thinly to make it soft much faster.

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Add flour, vanilla and lemon zest, and work into a smooth dough. Don't overwork it, or it might become tough. (Due to the gluten development.)

Shape two sausages and wrap in plastic foil. Chill until firm - an hour in the freezer, or overnight in the fridge.

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Slice fairly thinly (my slices were about 5 mm) and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 175°C until the edges are lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Drizzle with melted chocolate if you wish. I used white chocolate with some green powdered food coloring.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronkakor med vanilj

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jag tyckte visst det liknade klover! Du ar betydligt battre pa att spritsa an jag iaf. :)

Sprinzette @ Ginger and Almonds said...

These definitely look like something I need to try - thanks for sharing!