Welcome to the second edition of The Sweet Side of Finance. If you've signed up for my newsletter, you already know about today's tasty treat.
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If you missed last month's recipe (Brown Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies), you can find it here. If you give any of my recipes a try, I'd love to see pictures and hear about what you thought of them!
This month, we've been focusing on the 5 Money Love Languages. I've written about the love languages and the ways you can apply them to your financial life on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
This month, I'm sharing my famous Sugar Cookies with Meyer Lemon Glaze, and in the spirit of the 5 Love Languages, I'm sharing it because it's my wife's favorite recipe. She requests it every holiday season. Interestingly enough, she doesn't really like sweets, but there is something she loves about this particular cookie!
Sugar Cookies with Meyer Lemon Glaze
Ingredients For Sugar Cookies:
Ingredients for sugar cookies
1/3 cup soft butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Ingredients for Meyer lemon glaze
1 medium size Meyer lemon
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy
Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated
Add the sugar and brown sugar to the pan and stir until smooth
Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined, but don’t over mix
Flatten the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and place on a cookie sheet
Refrigerate for 30 minutes
Flour a clean, dry surface and roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thickness
Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into fun shapes
Place the cookies on a ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 9 minutes or until bottoms are slightly browned
Place on a rack to cool
Once cookies are completely cooled, they are ready to glaze
Make the glaze right before decorating the cookies so that it doesn’t dry out.
Zest the Meyer lemon into a bowl.
Juice the lemon and strain the juice into the bowl with the zest
Whisk the vanilla and salt into the juice and zest
Add the powdered sugar to the juice mixture ¼ cup at a time whisking after each addition. You don’t want the glaze to be too runny or too think that it won’t coat the cookie. So, you may need to add more or less powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.
You can add food coloring to the glaze or just leave it as is
I like to hold the edges of the cookies and dip them into the glaze. Then I place them back onto the cooling rack to let the glaze drip off the sides of the cookies and dry a little. You can also use a butter knife to spread it onto the cookies or a pastry bag to decorate them if you are feeling fancy.
Enjoy!
The finished result...
We have a Meyer lemon tree in our backyard, and I love to think of different ways to use the fruit. The Meyer lemon makes a great glaze for this cookie since it has a nice floral, citrus flavor without being overly tart. I like the addition of the salt and vanilla to give a little more depth of flavor, and I think that the salt helps to ease the sweetness of the powdered sugar.
But most importantly, what I love about this cookie is how much my wife loves it. So, this month, think of something special you can do for your loved ones that will speak to their love language.
Until Next Time,
Ella
