Lemon ginger cookies

I made these cookies last weekend for my cousin's wedding. The original recipe makes thick cookies that you  slather with a lemon buttercream. Perfect showstoppers for a wedding, but it's hard to justify a buttercream sandwich for everyday eating.

{cookies, stacked}

The cookies by themselves on the other hand? They are perfect for an afternoon treat. The addition of almond meal makes the texture delicate and the flavor almost wheat-y. They're more lemon than ginger, though, and I'm a ginger addict. I think in the future I might try finely chopping crystallized ginger and adding it to the mix. You can double this recipe in a stand mixer with no problem at all.

{baking}

Lemon ginger cookies (makes 18 if you're going for 3" cookies - original recipe from here)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted, ground (I used 4 oz of TJ's ready made almond meal, which is amazing and a huge time saver)

:: Mix the flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.

:: Whip the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on high (I usually get this going and then measure out the rest of the ingredients).

:: Stir in the lemon zest, vanilla and almond meal.

:: Stir in the flour mixture. I found that it worked best if I used the mixer on low speed to incorporate most of the flour, but I had to finish it by working the dough by hand briefly. The dough is fairly dry but it rolls out beautifully once you refrigerate it.

:: Divide the dough in half and shape into discs. Refrigerate about one hour, to make the dough easier to handle.

:: On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc at a time to just under 1/4" thick (this is pretty thick, especially if you're used to rolling out 1/8", which is more standard) and cut your preferred shape. I used 3" scalloped edge circles. Set aside the scraps and then repeat with the second disc. Gently knead the scraps into a ball and roll them out to get a few more cookies. I only did one re-roll, although you might be able to eke out one more without affecting the texture too much. We just opted to eat the scraps instead.

:: Bake the cookies in a 325 degree oven for about 14 minutes, until the tops are firm and the bottoms are golden brown. You don't want to overbake them as they'll start to taste burned quickly. The original recipe suggested 20 minutes, but that was way too much for my oven (the little stack you see in the top picture is overbaked!). I would start checking at 14 minutes and add extra time if necessary.


These don't have any eggs - that's not a typo (trust me, I checked the original recipe about 20 times to convince myself I wasn't messing it up when I made them). They really don't need them. I was worried about the dough being cohesive enough, but it really does come together. Promise.