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Lemony cookies embrace ice cream

A scoop of cold, creamy ice cream on a hot summer day is a great way to finish a meal or simply enjoy a treat. But bowls aren't exactly portable. And you need a spoon. Popsicles are nice, but they melt. Quickly. And there's the matter of what to do with the stick. But ice cream sandwiches -- they're portable and there's nothing to throw away.

When I was growing up graham crackers were always the default for making ice cream sandwiches, probably because they were inexpensive and didn't require heating up the house.

To take homemade ice cream sandwiches up a notch, I decided to try them with homemade lemon cookies. (Why risk ruining homemade ice cream with a store-bought cookie?)

The sweet, lemony cookie pairs well with fruit-flavored fillings such as Cherry-Mascarpone (featured in last week's Food section), strawberry, pineapple, blackberry or simple vanilla. But they're delicious on their own, too.

Simply put, these are my new favorite lemon cookie.

They're sweet. They're buttery. They're fresh-tasting. They get a triple dose of lemon flavor from fresh lemon juice and zest as well as a bit of lemon extract.

They'd make a great do-ahead dessert for Independence Day -- filled with vanilla ice cream and rolled in red and blue sprinkles.

Triple Lemon Cookies

1 cup butter, softened (I used 1 stick salted and 1 stick unsalted)

1 cup granulated sugar

Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice)

1 egg

¼ teaspoon lemon extract

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon fine salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping sides of bowl as necessary, until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the egg and extracts and beat until combined. Mixture may "break" and look curdled, this is OK.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, scraping sides of bowl as necessary, mixing to form a soft dough.

Drop dough by 2 tablespoon-mounds, spaced 2 to 3 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake 10 minutes or until cookies are set and edges are just beginning to brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

If using to make ice-cream sandwiches, freeze the cooled cookies on wire racks for 30 minutes before filling. The cookies can comfortably sandwich 2 to 3 tablespoons of ice cream.

Makes about 32 cookies or enough for 16 ice cream sandwiches.

Food on 07/01/2015

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