With all this moving, I got a little overwhelmed and decided to tack some of the bake sale recipes onto this week. You don’t mind, do you?

On Sunday, my daughter asked me to make a cookie that was lemony, chewy, and had no eggs in it (so she could eat the dough, of course). I told her it was a tall order, and probably couldn’t be done. As I went back in my archives, I found a lemon cookie ice cream sandwich. All I did was adapt the recipe a squeak, and we had our cookie. We thought we’d coat them in powdered sugar to make them extra special.

chewy lemon snowdrop cookies

*******After several comments saying these cookies were coming out flat, the following is my updated version of this recipe. I have changed the cooking temperature, time, and a few other things (in May 2012). If you have made this in the past (prior to May 2012), and were happy with the original recipe, the original version appears at the very end of the post, after the last photograph.******* 

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lemon juice
about 1 cup powdered sugar, for coating

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour and salt.  Set aside.

2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, lemon zest, sugar, and agave nectar. Mix until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides.

3. With the mixer off, add in baking soda. Pour lemon juice on top, and turn the mixer to medium, and mix for a couple of turns of the beaters. Add in flour and salt mixture, and mix on low until just combined. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula and mix the dough by hand a few times to ensure an even distribution of the ingredients.

4. Roll the dough into balls, one inch in diameter. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just barely starting to brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets , and then toss in powdered sugar to coat.

chewy lemon snowdrops (original version)

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
zest of 2 lemons
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lemon juice
about 1 cup powdered sugar, for coating

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour and salt.  Set aside.

2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, lemon zest, sugar, and agave nectar. Mix until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides.

3. In a small cup, combine the lemon juice baking soda. With the mixer on low, add in flour mixture and lemon juice mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula and mix the dough by hand a few times to ensure an even distribution of the ingredients.

4. Roll the dough into balls, one inch in diameter. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets , and then toss in powdered sugar to coat.