I’m still not quite sure about these. The flavor is there, a strong lemon taste with the special twang Meyer lemons bring, with the right amount of sweetness to balance it out. But the texture feels off to me. It’s a little too cooked on the bottom, and a little too chewy on the inside. They’re still cooling though, so I’ll have some patience and give them another taste.
I started by sifting the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, and poppy seeds.
The cap on the poppy seed jar snapped apart in my hands, which was annoying, especially since it was brand new.
Next up was creaming the butter and sugar together, which was a challenge since the recipe only called for a quarter cup of butter. It took a while to get to the right texture, but eventually it happened.
Once I was satisfied with the texture, I added the rest of the liquid ingredients: an egg, honey, Meyer lemon zest, and Meyer lemon juice.
I mixed it all in at medium speed until everything was incorporated.
And in went the dry ingredients, incrementally.
Pretty soon I had a bowl of decent-looking batter. I finished mixing by hand to make sure I didn’t overdo it.
You can see the lemon zest in there, and taste it too. The dough was delicious. I didn’t have any plastic wrap, so I put a giant baggie over it and popped it into the fridge for half an hour.
I spent the next half hour playing cards with Juliet. We played war, which takes so long that we still weren’t done when the timer went off and Nathaniel graciously stepped in for me. I was winning, which helped motivate him.
I retrieved the dough from the fridge, and scooped it into balls, then dropped them onto a cookie sheet.
And then Juliet decided she wanted to help after all, first by posing, and then by scooping out the dough.
Like her hair? We both got haircuts yesterday and we’re letting her go an extra day without washing hers because it looks so smooth and pretty. (I like her crazy hair too, but the smoothness is fun for a change.)
I put the first tray in, and set the timer for 10 minutes. At 12, they still didn’t have the promised cracks on top, but they looked very done on the bottom and I didn’t think I should leave them in any longer. They didn’t spread, and I tried flattening them as suggested in the directions, but it didn’t make a difference. They were cute little round squat cookies, not flat ones with cracks, and that was that.
They do taste awfully good, though, and the kids liked them enough to officially present them.
So I guess I think they’re okay, but not terrific. Then again, I’ve thought that about almost everything I’ve made lately, so I’m not sure if I’m on a bad baking roll technique-wise or attitude-wise. I just haven’t made anything new that I really loved in a long time. I’d jump right back in tonight but the Oscars are on. Maybe I’ll give something a shot, maybe I’ll just make something I know is good and see if that goes wrong too. Hmph.
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