As I’m sure you all know, the holiday season is fast approaching us — and with that comes the influx of cookies and other holiday treats to our kitchen counters. However, no cookie spread is complete without these lemon crumble cookies.
If you’re lucky enough to have a roommate who loves to bake, most of these ingredients should be easy to access — but if not, don’t worry! All of the ingredients cost around $15 total at Shoprite.
You will need:
For the cookies: (makes about 12 cookies)
- 3 cups of flour
- 1 ¼ cup of sugar
- 1 cup of unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 egg
For the icing:
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- ¼ cup of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of milk (or milk alternative)
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
These are all the ingredients you'll need to make the cookies.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion
Of course, the first thing you want to do is preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Now that you’re all set up for the cookies, it’s time to mix the dry ingredients. Put the three cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt together in a medium sized bowl and gently mix them. Next, take the softened two sticks of butter and 1 ¼ cup of sugar and beat them together until creamy, preferably with an electric mixer, or maybe ask your strongest roommate to whisk it by hand. If you do this, you might need to bribe them with a cookie or two, but it’s a small price to pay to save your weak arms. It’s okay if this isn’t the smoothest mixture, especially if you’re doing it by hand, but just try to make sure it’s about the same texture throughout.
Mix three cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt together in a medium sized bowl, and gently mix them.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion
For the rest of the batter, you want to mix the rest of your wet ingredients together, so take one teaspoon of vanilla extract, two tablespoons of lemon juice and one tablespoon of lemon zest and combine it with sugar and butter. Now, take your dry ingredients and slowly incorporate into the wet ingredients, mixing as you go to create a smooth dough. You want to mix this well, so that there’s no clumps, but be careful not to over-mix, you don’t want to have to spoon knock off lemon pudding onto your baking sheets.
Mix your wet and dry ingredients together well so that there’s no clumps, but be careful not to over-mix.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion
Here comes the fun part, take a tablespoon or cookie scoop and begin to place the dough balls onto your baking sheets, about one inch apart. Once you’re done with this, put your cookies in the oven for seven to eight minutes, or until their bottoms are golden brown.
While these are baking, it’s time to make the icing. The icing isn’t required, but it really holds the cookies together, and adds a touch of vanilla elevating the overall flavor of the cookie. In a small bowl combine the two cups of powdered sugar, ¼ cup of lemon juice, two tablespoons of milk (or milk alternative) and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix these until smooth, or until most of the clumps are out, and set aside until the cookies are cool.
Put the icing on the cookies after they have rested for about 15 minutes.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion
After the eight minutes are up, take the cookies out of the oven and let them sit until they’re cool to the touch, about 15 minutes. Lastly, take your icing and brush it over each cookie, and leave them out until the icing sets.
Enjoy your cookies with a cup of hot tea.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion
The best way to enjoy these cookies is with a glass of hot tea, or if you’re my roommate, a tall glass of Coke Zero. However you enjoy them, share them with people you love or your coworkers that you spend way too much time with.
