Lucky Charm Lemon Sugar Cookies

You guys, it’s March! Which means that spring is coming (fingers crossed) to this great state of Michigan! To celebrate, I whipped up another batch of my favorite Lemon Sugar Cookies for a delightful St. Patrick’s Day party.
Colleen at Lemon Thistle and Ashton at BeSpoke Decor are the creative masterminds behind this Classy St. Patrick’s Day Party and I only wish that we all lived in the same place (let alone country) so we could all attend. Luckily, the internet has made it possible for us to party together.

Bless you, world wide web. Bless you.

And you all know that I will take any excuse to spell things out with my food. It took me awhile to decide which phrase I wanted to cookie-fy for you but at the end of the day Lucky Charm seemed like the way to roll.

Also, just FYI, for one hot second I considered making Warren dress up as a leprechaun to put his general ginger-ness to use. I still haven’t ruled this idea out, much to Warren’s horror.

I loved the black, white, gold, and emerald color scheme for this party. I put my gold sprinkles from my Pavlova Petit Fours back to work and threw in some leftover gold foil cups for good measure.

I am convinced that sprinkles can heal the world, if we let them.

I love these sugar cookies SO much! They don’t spread at all while baking and have the most fragrant lemon scent (and taste)–which almost makes me forget the piles of ugly melting snow outside.

The best news is that these cookies taste good at any and all stages of their creation–from dough, to nekkid unfrosted state, to their glorious royal icing robes! Pure magic.

I am still finding my way with royal icing but I love the clean lines it gives to cookies. Yes, it is a lot more work than smearing out-of-the-can frosting onto cookies, but it is so worth it. I also bought Alison’s Cookie party for more royal icing tips (and friends, that e-book is no joke–videos + intense photo tutorials–it will banish all your sugar cookie fears and support Alison, a sugar cookie maven and lovely creative soul! Remember our Sweet Reads series we did all those ages ago?).

Because royal icing can be a tad intimidating, I decided to keep it simple and just flood the cookies in solid colors, then dress them up with sprinkles upon sprinkles. One day I’ll brave multicolored royal frosting designs, but today is not that day.

 

Print Recipe

Lucky Charm Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• For Lemon Sugar Cookies
• 1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• zest from one large lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-2 1/4 cups flour
• For Perfect Royal Icing
• 1/2 bag powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• For Lemon Sugar Cookies:

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to cream the butter and both sugars together. This takes about 4-5 minutes on medium speed. The butter will be light and fluffy with just a little grain from the sugar. Add the lemon zest and mix for a minute or two to combine. Things should be smelling really delicious right about now. Crack eggs into a small bowl and add them to the mixer one at a time, making sure each egg mixes thoroughly. Add salt and baking powder and mix until just combined.
• Add the flour one cup at a time (up to 1 1/2 cups). Make sure to mix the flour completely. After the third cup, add flour in 1/4 cup increments (up to 2 1/4 cups).
• I used 2 1/4 cups of flour and the dough looked like play dough. The dough should not be sticky and should hold together. Lightly flour your counter and roll the dough out ¼-inch thick. Cut the cookies out and put on a parchment or silicon lined baking sheet. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Be careful not to over bake. These cookies are light and do not really get golden brown, even at the edges. Frost with royal icing (recipe below). Makes about 18 cookies.
• For Perfect Royal Icing:
  Combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix the dry ingredients to combine. Slowly add the water and vanilla extract. The icing will initially look sad and very wet. Whisk on medium for 5-6 minutes, until it thickens to pudding consistency. Knock the speed up to high and whisk for an additional 4-5 minutes, until the icing is very stiff and the whisk or a spatula stands straight up without falling.
  
• Thin the icing with water and fill a frosting bag fitted with a #3 tip. Line and flood the cookie and sprinkle to your heart’s delight! For more information on how to color and thin royal icing, check out Sweet Sugar Belle’s video tutorials. Makes enough icing for two dozen cookies, plus some to spare.