Last week was Clara’s first birthday! And so for the past month or so I’ve been trying out recipes to include on the menu for her party (a late morning brunch). These cookies easily made the cut. They’re not-too-tart, not-too-sweet and completely lemony. I’m not fanatical about lemons, but I could eat a dozen of these. (Oh, and they freeze really well so they can be made ahead of time. Just let them come to room temperature before serving.)

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar, for rolling

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 large nonstick cooking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper or a mat.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice.  Scrape sides and mix again.  Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar.  Scrape sides of bowl and mix again, briefly.

3. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate.  Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in the powdered sugar.  Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not melted or shiny).  Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to a rack.

Makes about 18 cookies.

(Adapted from Lauren’s Latest and Lahatchita Eats)