In the name of Comfort

These are trying times, and in my personal opinion, trying times call for an occasional sweet treat to take your mind off of things. This makes it a perfect time to indulge in a sweet lemon-y treat in the form of cookies!

This recipe is another special one from my childhood. For those who’ve read my piece on banana bread, you’ll remember that my mother was a baker for a period of time in my childhood. Amongst her main wares were the best cookies you’ve ever tasted: the molasses sugar cookie with a rum glaze, the double chocolate, and my favorite of the big three being the recipe I’m sharing with you today.

Now unlike with a good amount of the other treats that my mother baked, eating these cookies for breakfast takes a special kind of person, but these, by all means, were good enough for me to try. They’ve become a good snack, treat, or what have you. My favorite part is that the sweetness can be controlled with how much sugar you roll it in as you’re forming them.

These cookies even make a surprising treat for Halloween; The flavor is unexpected, and because it’s technically a sugar cookie, a cookie cutter can be used for the shape, while if not rolled in the sugar, an icing with a contrasting taste would be unforgettable. I will say, though, they’re pretty perfect when left alone.

Lemon-Poppyseed Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1tbsp poppy seeds

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 sticks butter, softened, but still firm

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup granulated sugar, for rolling dough

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar until it’s light and fluffy, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, zest, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add dry ingredients until just combined, again scraping down the bowl.

Place the sugar for rolling in a shallow bowl. Fill a separate medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Dip your hands in the water and shake off the excess (this helps to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands,and ensures that the sugar sticks to the dough.) Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball between your palms. Then roll the ball in sugar, and place onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to moisten your hands after forming each ball. You’ll want to place the balls about 2 inches apart from each other. To flatten the dough, you can either use your palm, or the buttered bottom of a drinking glass.

I’m really big on texture, so I don’t usually focus on time as much as I do looks. Once the cookies are a golden brown around the edges, a pastel yellow everywhere else, and the sugar on top shines like a glaze, they’re done. For those that don’t work the same way I do, though, 15-18 minutes is usually a good amount of time, depending on your oven. When they’re done, just let them cool, and they’re ready to eat- or to share, I guess.

Warning: For those whose places of employment do drug tests, I would have to recommend excluding the poppy seeds from the recipe when you make these cookies. The consumption of poppy seeds can produce positive results on drug screening tests. I do not want to be the reason behind anyone losing their job because of cookies, no matter how good they are.

In terms of the end result after the removal of the poppyseeds, the texture, and the look is changed ever so slightly, but the recipe still tastes fine without it. The biggest loss is the aesthetic, which tends not to matter that much when you just want something good in your life.

Enjoy!