Italian lemon drop cookies
Ingredients
- For the cookies:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
- For the icing:
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl beat sugar, vanilla, lemon peel and 6 tablespoons of butter with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat for 1 minute. Stir in flour and baking powder (will be a soft, sticky dough). Spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch round tip. Pipe into piles on the parchment paper. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- To make icing: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over low heat. Add sugar, water, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk until sugar melts and mixture is heated through. If icing is too thick to brush easily, add more water to thin. Remove cookies from oven and immediately brush warm icing over hot cookies. Cool iced cookies on sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
Notes
- These can also easily be made as a drop cookie, if you don’t care to pipe them into rings!