Lemon Thyme Cookies

I have been searching for this recipe for lemon thyme cookies for a very long time. I made them years ago to celebrate summer and the return of the sun. Delicate, tangy, with a dash of sunshine and a hint of thyme throughout, I love these cookies.

The coolest part of the story is I rediscovered the recipe serendipitously. My dear friend Tammy and I met when we did a cookie book exchange, she made this adorable recipe book by hand and included the recipe for Lemon Herb Cookies from Cooking by Moonlight. It was the same recipe I had made all those years ago and had lost! For a printer-friendly version of the recipe, scroll down to the bottom of this post. I found it on this web site. It makes a lot of cookies so I divided the recipe in half.

I used the zest of two lemons for the recipe, the more zest = the more flavour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a bowl you cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together. Then you add the egg, sour cream, lemon juice and zest. Beat well.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Throw in the thyme. (The recipe calls for lemon thyme but I could only find regular thyme and it worked just fine.) Add to the wet ingredients and beat until just mixed.

My mini ice cream scoop makes perfect little cookies but you can use a tablespoon or regular spoon to make them as well. Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and gently flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

This is where I jumped in and switched things up a little. To give the cookies an extra sweet and sour edge, I added some lemon zest and juice to icing sugar and stirred until it was pretty thick but loose enough to dunk the top of the cookie into and cover. Give it time to dry and set. This glaze takes the cookies over the top!

Thank you so much Tammy for sharing your cookie recipes with me and bringing back one of my favourite cookies to my kitchen. As my husband and I sat munching them as we watched the season finale of Smallville he said, “Wow, these are really awesome cookies.” Considering he does not even like lemon and tends to prefer desserts whose focus is on chocolate, that is high praise. I could not agree with him more!

Remember, this recipe makes a ton of cookies, I divided it in half and it made so many I had to give them away to my neighbours or else I would have eaten them all. Half the batch is more than enough.

Lemon Herb Cookies
Makes 6 dozen
Cooking by Moonlight by Karri Ann Allrich

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
4 tsp herbs/spices of choice, finely chopped

Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs, sour cream, lemon juice, and lemon zest, beat well. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and herbs. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until mixed.

To make cookies, drop dough by the spoonfuls, 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with your thumb or a fork. Bake for 8-10 min, until starting to brown around edges. Cool cookies briefly on sheet and then move them to a clean counter or rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

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