Mini Lemon Sandwich Cookies Food

LEMON SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• 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.
• 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).
• 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).
• 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.
• Form sandwiches: Place about 1 teaspoon Creamy Lemon Filling between two cookies, sugared sides facing out; squeeze gently.

LEMON SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Food Processor Method Process the lemon zest with the sugar and salt until the zest is very fine. Cut the butter into several pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy, Add the egg and vanilla and process until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour and pulse in just until incorporated. The mixture will hold together if pinched.
• Electric Mixer Method For the best texture use superfine granulated sugar. Soften the butter and chop the lemon zest until very fine. In a mixing bowl cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the lemon zest, egg, and vanilla extract and beat until blended. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. On low speed, gradually add it to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated and the dough just begins to come away from the sides of the bowl.
• For Both Methods Scrape the mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and use the wrap to press down on the dough, kneading it until it is smooth. Divide the dough into four pieces, wrap each one with plastic wrap, and press to form flat discs. Refrigerate for 2 hours up to 2 days placed in a zip-seal bag, to firm and give the dough a chance to absorb the moisture evenly to make rolling easier.
• Place 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and set it on a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour the dough and cover it with plastic wrap. (I like to use Wondra® flour for dusting.) Allow the dough to soften for about 10 minutes or until supple enough to roll. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick, moving it from time to time and adding more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking.
• Cut out 2-1/4 inch cookies. preferably using a scalloped cutter. Use a 3/4 inch round cutter or pastry tube to cut out the centers of half of them. (If using a plastic cutter, or parchment-lined cookied sheet, it's best to do this after placing the cookies on the cookie sheet.) Set the cookies, about 1/2 inch apart, on the cookie sheets. Knead together the scraps and reroll them, chilling them first if necessary.
• Bake the cookies for 8 to 12 minutes or just until they begin to brown lightly. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking.
• Use a small offset spatula or pancake turner to transfer the cookies to cooling racks. When cool, spread the bottom sides of the cookie halves without the cutouts with 1 teaspoon of lemon buttercream or your favorite jam or jelly, and set the second set of cookies with the cutouts on top, bottom side down to create the sandwiches.
• Lemon Neoclassic Buttercream Makes: 1 cup/about 8 ounces 2 large egg yolks 1/4 cup superfine sugar 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened-65 to 75°F 1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped, loosely packed 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• In a medium bowl, with a handheld mixer, beat the yolks on high speed until light in color.
• Have ready a 1-cup heatproof glass measure, coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a small saucepan, preferably nonstick, using a silicone spatula, stir together the sugar and corn syrup until all the sugar is moistened. Heat over medium-high, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup begins to bubble around the edges. Stop stirring completely and continue cooking for a few minutes until the syrup comes to a rolling boil. (The entire surface will be covered with large bubbles.) Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.
• Beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don't allow the syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. Continue beating on high speed for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool completely. To speed cooling, place the buttercream in an ice water bath or the refrigerator, stirring occasionally. When the outside of the bowl feels cool, on high speed, beat in the butter by the tablespoon. The buttercream will not thicken until almost all of the butter has been added. On low speed, add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Raise the speed to high and beat until smooth and creamy. It may separate at first but come together on beating.
• Place the buttercream in an airtight bowl. Use it at once or set it aside for up to 4 hours. If keeping it longer than 4 hours, refrigerate it. Bring it to room temperature and rebeat to restore the texture.

LEMON CREAM SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• In the bowl of a stand mixture, cream the butter. Add the sugars and eggs and continue to beat until smooth. Beat in the lemon juice, vanilla, extract, and lemon zest.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
• Place heaping teaspoons of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten a bit with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until cookies are set on the edges and no longer jiggly in the center. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium high speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, beating on low speed and increasing the speed slowly as the sugar is incorporated. Add the lemon zest and juice, to taste. I like a lot of lemon flavor, so I always use the full 3 teaspoons.
• Pipe or spread the cream cheese frosting on a lemon cookie and sandwich with a second cookie. Store the finished cookies in the fridge. I love the taste of these cold directly out of the fridge, but they can set out at room temperature for several hours and be fine.

LEMON SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Boil lemon zest and juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1 tablespoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
• Beat together butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add yolk and egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in lemon reduction. At low speed, mix in baking soda and flour until just combined.
• Form dough and into a 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped, until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat over to 375 with racks in middle and upper positions. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin to a 13-inch (1/8-inch-thick) round. Cut out cookies, rerolling dough once. Bake 1 inch apart until edges are golden, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• MAKE LEMON FILLING: Mince zest with salt. Beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy, then beat in zest paste. Reduce speed to low, then mix in sugar until well combined.
• ASSEMBLE COOKIES: Spread filling (about a rounded Tbsp) on half of the cookies and sandwich with remaining cookies. Press slightly, then smooth edges with a butter knife or small spatula. Chill until filling sets, about 30 minutes.

LEMON-CREAM SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; beat into creamed mixture. Divide into two balls; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour., On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut into 2-in. rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool., For filling, in a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in lemon juice and zest. Spread over the bottoms of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

GLITTERING LEMON SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Make Cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt.
• Beat together butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in zest and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.
• Put sanding sugars in different bowls. Roll a scant teaspoon of dough into a ball and drop into sugar, turning to coat. Reshape if necessary and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing balls 3/4 inch apart, until baking sheet is filled.
• Bake until tops are slightly cracked but still pale (bottoms will be pale golden), 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely.
• Form and bake more cookies on second baking sheet.
• Make Filling and Sandwich Cookies:
• Beat together all filling ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined well. Transfer to sealable bag and snip off a corner.
• Turn over half of cookies and pipe about 1/2 teaspoon filling on flat side of each. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently.