lemon sandwich cookies

This baking adventure began with a pretty new apron purchased on a whim from the World's Greatest Hardware Store:



Sure, I already had an apron waiting faithfully for me at home. A simple cotton one that had served me well for many years. But this apron wrapped its arms around me and would not let me go.

One might call it a trophy apron.

Baking is an activity I find deeply calming and deeply joyful. It's so simple, yet so mysterious. I still find it surprising that mixing a bunch of ingredients together in a bowl and applying heat to it can yield such an unbelievably delicious payoff.

I also purchased a rolling pin recently, and I wanted to make a cookie with a dough that required rolling.

So I made lemon sandwich cookies. This is a Martha Stewart recipe, laid out in typical Martha fashion. The editorial voice in these recipes is so spartan. There's minimum of direction, and a tacit understanding that you are a cook who owns multiple aprons and thus knows her way around a rolling pin. Martha would never say anything like, "If the dough tears up when you roll it, and sticks like a fiend to the rolling pin, just take a breather and let the dough warm up a little." (I wish she would.)



Once I let the dough warm up a little and tried moving the rolling pin much more slowly over the dough, the cookies came together fine. It really is a joyful thing to use cookie cutters on dough — my interior second grader leaped with glee every time I punched the fluted cutter through the dough.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies if you're using a 1.5" cutter; less with a larger cutter.

• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling
• Creamy Lemon Filling (see below)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add flour (dough will still be stiff); finish mixing with a wooden spoon.
2. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, pat into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour (and up to 3 days).
3. Unwrap dough; place on a lightly floured piece of parchment or waxed paper. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough about 1/8 inch thick (if dough cracks, let it warm up slightly. If dough sticks like a fiend to the rolling pin, just laugh a little and take a walk around the block).
4. Cut out cookies with a 1 1/2-inch round cutter (reroll scraps once, chilling of too soft). Place 1 inch apart on two baking sheets; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until barely beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Form sandwiches: Place about 1 teaspoon (or more!) Creamy Lemon Filling between two cookies, sugared sides facing out; squeeze gently.

- - - - - - - - -

Creamy Lemon Filling

Makes enough for about 3 dozen sandwich cookies

• 1 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and zest until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, mixing until smooth. Mix in remaining sugar as necessary to create a firm but spreadable filling.

— from Martha Stewart