Lemon Rosemary Icebox Cookies

My mom saw a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies in Family Circle magazine that she thought I'd like to try so she sent me home with her magazine, and I got to mixing. Well, when it came time to add the poppy seeds I quickly realized that I've kept my poppy seeds hanging around so long that they no longer taste like poppy seeds. In fact, they may have gone rancid if that's possible. So I was about to resign myself to just making lemon cookies when I saw the rosemary in the spice cabinet. I figured I'd left the poppy seeds around too long so I might as well use the rosemary before that's less than savory, too. So yeah, I put in a few pinches of rosemary instead.

My first bite of the cookies made me think: hmm I wish I had some chicken... But then I realized how yummy they really are and ate a few more. I'll have to try them again with poppy seeds, but I think I'd make them with rosemary again. They're actually quite easy to make. The recipe says to roll out the dough and use cookie cutters, but I just rolled the dough into logs and sliced them. It's much easier that way :)




Since my mom is the one who showed me the cookies, I just had to package up a few to bring to her. I hope she likes them, too!


Lemon Rosemary Icebox Cookies
Adapted from Family Circle's Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Beat in egg, zest, and juice until fluffy, 1 minute. Gradually Beat in flour mixture on low, just until blended. Add poppy seeds; stir to combine. Divide dough in half. Flatten each into 6-inch square; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before rolling out dough.
-OK this step is where I changed things a bit. Obviously I didn't use poppy seeds, but I didn't exactly use an equal exchange of rosemary. I didn't measure it, but I put in a few pinches and tried to break them up a bit. Instead of flattening the dough, I rolled it into a log and wrapped it in plastic.

3. Heat oven to 350F. Coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly flour dough. Roll half of dough on lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. For variety, use 2 cutters, one about 2 inches and the other 2-1/2 inches. Re roll scraps and repeat. Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Repeat with other half of dough.
-I used my Airbake sheets so I didn't grease them. I also didn't roll it out at all, just took it out of the fridge and sliced it cold to 1/4 inch thickness. I rolled some of the edges in sugar to make them pretty, too.

4. Bake at 350F for 10 to 13 minutes or until golden around edges. Remove to rack to cool completely.
-I ended up baking them for more than 13 minutes to get them golden, probably closer to 17 minutes, actually. Just keep an eye on them.