Fat, Fluffy, Lemon Raspberry Cookies

Easter is right around the corner, the daffodils are out, the sun is shining, and so I thought it was time to make something a little bit more spring inspired. For about a year now I have been a fan of Jessica’s website How Sweet It Is, and while browsing through her recipes recently, I came across one for Fat, Fluffy Snickerdoodles. I’ve never actually made or eaten a snickerdoodle before so I was looking forward to making them.

When it came time to bake though, I realized that what I really wanted to do, was use a lemon that had been sitting in the fridge for a bit. Snickerdoodles are generally like thick sugar cookies rolled in a coating of sugar and cinnamon before they bake but, I realized that lemon really wasn’t going to work with the cinnamon and so the cinnamon part was going to have to go. However, while lemon is a perfectly lovely flavour all on its own, it can be a little bit boring right?

So there I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how I could make a lemon cookie a bit more interesting. Then I remembered some raspberry oatmeal squares I made last week and realized that some raspberry jam would be the perfect way to give these cookies some personality. Especially, the homemade raspberry jam that my mom makes!

I think that the combination of lemon and raspberry is absolutely divine, and the sugar coating that I kept from the original recipe gives the final product a beautiful sparkly finish.

Feel free to use another type of jam if you’d like. I imagine strawberry jam would be delicious, or even something like apricot jam or orange marmalade.

The jam doesn’t stick in its designated spot as much as typical thumbprint cookies but I think this adds to their charm. The raspberry jam bleeds out, just slightly, so that you get a more evenly distributed raspberry flavour.

The cookies taste like thick, soft, sugar cookies with the perfect amount of tart lemon flavour, complimented by the sweet tang of raspberry jam.

These would be perfect for the Easter table, a Spring gathering, or just because (which is exactly the reason I made them). Try them, you won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp milk

1/4 cup sugar (for rolling)

Raspberry Jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar together until smooth (I just used a spoon instead of hauling out my mixer). Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Place remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in sugar and place on baking sheet. Lightly press thumb down on center of each ball to create an indentation. Fill with 1/4-1/2 tsp of raspberry jam. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

(Adapted from this recipe)