Frosted Lemon Sugar Cookies
Everyone in the neighborhood knew that my mother made the best sugar cookies on the block, but not everyone knew what made them them the best…
When I discovered the secret I felt I’d made one of the greatest discoveries in the culinary world. Mama’s good friend Olga was Jewish and never used dairy products, so instead of butter she substituted schmaltz--which is rendered chicken fat--that gives the recipe a distinct flavor and richness unlike any other shortening--including real butter!
SERVINGS2dozenCHANGE SERVING SIZEdozen |
COOK TIME10mins |
PREP TIME20mins |
READY IN |
Ingredients
- Cookies
- 3/4 cup schmaltz (bought or rendered from chicken skins)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Frosting
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream schmaltz and sugar in an electric mixer using a paddle attachment.
- Add eggs (one a at time), lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until well incorporated.
- Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt.
- Roll dough into balls roughly 1 ½ inches wide and place on a greased cookie sheet, or a baking sheet lined with parchment. Press each cookie with a bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Remove and cool completely.
Frosting
- Combine all the ingredients until it reaches a creamy consistency. If it’s too thick, add either lemon juice for an extra shot of lemon or milk until it thins to the desired thickness.
- Either frost with a spreader (pictured) or pipe onto the cookies and enjoy!
