Lemon Ginger Tea Cookies
How on earth do I describe these cookies? They’re basic, light, and a little ordinary looking. They’re soft on the inside (but not exactly cake-like) and crusty on the outside. When you bite into them it takes a moment to discover the tiny bits of candied ginger and lemon peel, but then the flavors pop.
Personally, I don’t like crumbs in my tea, so I don’t indulge in dunking, but if you are a “dunker”, these cookies are for you!
Blogs right now will be few and far between, I’m afraid. Gardening season is upon me and I have an enormous vegetable garden, so even though I won’t quit baking, the posts will probably be brief and pithy. (Don’t you just love that word? Pithy, pithy, pithy.) I’m sure you will survive a few months without my rambling!
This recipe calls for sour cream. Since we live in the hills and I can’t just run to the store when I’m missing a key ingredient, I’ve learned to adapt. If you find yourself in the same position, a cup of evaporated milk (straight from the can) with a tablespoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of lemon juice stirred in and left to sit for 15 minutes worked perfectly. Your call!
| Lemon Ginger Tea Cookies | Print |
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel (about 3 large lemons)
- 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (chopped into small bits)
- 4¾ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup sugar in a small bowl for coating balls of dough.
- ICING:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- milk (or water) - enough to thin to drizzling consistency
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- Lightly grease (or use parchment) baking sheets.
- Cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each.
- Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon peel, and ginger. Beat well.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ginger.
- Beginning with the flour and ending with the sour cream, add alternately, approximately one third of each mixture at a time.
- If you prefer to roll the cookie dough out and cut it with a round cookie cutter, refrigerate for an hour, then roll ¼" thick and sprinkle with sugar. Otherwise:
- Drop dough by rounded teaspoons (or a small scoop) into sugar. Turn to coat, then - using your hands - roll into a ball. Put on the cookie sheet and press with the bottom of a glass to flatten a bit. Repeat, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just showing a little golden brown around the bottom edge.
- Cool cookies on a rack until cool, and drizzle with icing if desired.
Keep them in an airtight container, or they’ll dry out quickly.
Tossing the dough in sugar, ready to roll into a ball and bake.
Pressing balls of sugared dough before baking.
That’s it! Make a cuppa, put your feet up, and enjoy.
NO, I will NOT survive a few months without your rambling!
Love the cookies and also the secret replacement for sour cream!
I’ll babble my head off during Fly on a Wall, Karen, okay? 😉
A few years ago I found this recipe for a lemon-lime themed treat thing we did at work. For years now I’ve had to bake batches upon double batches of these cookies. All offers of cakes, pies, muffins, other cookies are turned down. “More ginger, more lemon, more cookies!!’ I am now up to a full cup of crystalized ginger in a regular batch. Yes you read that right and they said if the mixer will handle it, they will handle all the more. I want to try making your chews and the lavender lime cookies but they keep crying for lemon. These are the best cookies in existence as far as my giant office is concerned. Thank you for touching all our lives with this baked bliss.
Oh, what a lovely comment. Thank you, Carmen – you made my day! I wonder if the ginger monsters would be satisfied if you added a little grated ginger or ginger juice instead of that expensive crystallized ginger.
Mwah! Lorinda