Buttery and crispy cookies with a delicious lemon and rosemary flavour.
I typically do not like crispy cookies. I prefer the soft melt-in-your-mouth kinda cookies which texture resemble cake rather than cookies. This sugar cookie recipe is my one exception though. I have used this dough for various cookie recipes such as my Valentine’s Day Cookies or my Easter Carrot Cookies. It’s an incredibly versatile recipe and has a wonderful buttery flavour. It also becomes soft the next day but still remains crispy on the outside. Today we are going to use that recipe as our base to make rosemary lemon cookies.
Rosemary
You may think rosemary is a weird ingredient in a cookie. I agree. However, the earthy notes work incredibly well together with the sour notes from the lemon. Trust me! This is a combination you will want to try at least once in your life. I used fresh rosemary from my garden that I chopped into small pieces. You obviously do not need to use homegrown rosemary, fresh however is highly recommended. It gives your cookies a wonderful color and taste.
Have you ever baked with herbs? Let me know in the comment section down below!
Lemon
The main flavour in this recipe is lemon. To achieve an intense lemon flavour we are using lemon zest. If you look closely you can actually see the lemon zest specs in the cookies. Now that’s what I call homemade! Do not be tempted to add in a little splash of lemon juice, the lemon aroma is already intense enough plus adding additional liquids alters the texture of your dough. Remember that when zesting lemons, it’s important to use untreated lemons.
Dough
What might surprise you is the lack of baking powder or baking soda in this recipe. The reason we are omitting a leavening agent is because we do not want these cookies to rise. These are cut-out cookies, they are not supposed to rise! They are supposed to stay rather thin and have a nice crunch, like a typical sugar cookie. If you like your cookies soft in the center and crispy on the outside do not change the baking time. If you prefer your cookies super crispy you can add 2 minutes to the baking time.
I will say this however, baking times do vary and depend on the strength of your oven. My cookies were perfect at exactly 10 minutes. They are still soft when you take them out, but firm up as they cool. So do take them out when they look slightly undone. If your oven is a bit stronger or has hot spots you may want to take them out a bit earlier or flip the baking sheet in-between. I always recommend to do a small batch, of one or two cookies, and see how they bake before you bake the rest. This way you can easily figure out the exact baking time and have your cookies turn out perfect.
These cookies make a wonderful addition to a cup of tea or coffee. You can easily bake them a few days ahead and have them ready when guests come over. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container…though they never have lasted longer than 2 weeks in our house. 😉
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Rosemary Lemon Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 40 cookies 1x
Description
These delicious rosemary lemon cookies are soft in the center and crispy on the outside.
Ingredients
- 240g flour (2 cups)
- 100g white granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 200g butter (7 oz.)
- 1 egg, room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 3 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (about 2 large lemons)
- 4 teaspoons fresh minced rosemary
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in your stand mixer, and using the dough attachment, mix until you have a smooth dough.
- Part the dough into two discs and let them chill the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- Once your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 180C or 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out your dough on a floured surface and cut out your cookies with a cookie cutter of your choice. If the dough starts getting too soft, place it back into the fridge to let it chill again.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They should still be soft with slightly golden edges when you take them out.
- Once baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheet.
Notes
Store cookies in an airtight jar for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months.
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When a man is found on a Norfolk beach, drifting in and out of consciousness, with no identification and unable to speak, interest in him is sparked immediately. Who is this man?
I’m Natanja, a blogger, food photographer and lavender enthusiast. Here on Home Baked Bliss, I get to share mouth-watering recipes, easy DIYs and everything related to the home with you. I hope it will make you feel inspired!
I love using herbs in baking! We have used rosemary and lemon in doughnuts, rosemary with ground coriander in brownies and basil with cherry in cake. These biscuits look great. I shall add them to.our list!
Hi Kat! Those sound like lovely flavour combos! Basil with cherries sounds like something I’d love to try too! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Hi there! 🙂 I really loved the cookies because I am a person who is constantly using herbs and spices in cookies and puddingss etc.. Therefore I really love this kind of recipes and see people literally encouraging such tastes! My Instagram page is @bakemosphere and you’ll even see salty&sweety cookie recipes with garlic! Yeah – not kidding! 🙂
This kitchen is ours to play with and we should enjoy such mixes! With total love!
Hi Sebnem! I see we have a similar taste in cookies…though I have never tried savory garlic cookies before. 🙂 They sound intriguing! I totally agree, the kitchen is a place to experiment! I often find that errors and mishaps in the kitchen lead to some very unique and flavourful recipes. Thanks for stopping by!