St. Clement's Orange and Lemon Cookies

Directions

1. To make the “zested” sugar for decorating, use one teaspoon each of lemon and orange zest for each 4 teaspoons (1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) of regular white sugar. Stir together in a shallow bowl until thoroughly mixed.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg and citrus juices; beat well.
3. Add 2 Tablespoons (combined and firmly packed) of lemon and orange zest to the dough and using a spoon, stir well. I recommend that you do it at this point, and that you use a spoon, to minimize the amount of zest wasted on your mixer beaters.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and add them to the creamed mixture of butter, sugar, etc. The dough should be easy to handle. If it isn't, chill it for an hour or so.
5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit for a regular oven, or 350 degrees for a convection oven.
6. Roll out the dough on a very lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Place the cut shapes of dough on a cookie sheet covered with parchment (or lightly oiled, if you don’t have parchment).
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven, your cookie sheets, etc. The cookies are done when the edges are very light brown.
8. While the cookies are baking, if you are going to ice the cookies, mix 1 teaspoon lemon juice (or other liquid) with 1/3 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar. Add more sugar or liquid to get it to the consistency you want. I prefer a very thin layer of icing -- a glaze, actually -- so mine tends to be somewhat runny. You can also put some more lemon zest in the icing, if you want a more lemony taste, or make the icing using Cointreau or any other liqueur that you like, instead of lemon or orange juice.
9. Once the cookies have cooled, paint the icing on them and sprinkle them lightly with a pinch or two of the zested sugar mixture, or not, depending on your preference. (If the sugar mixture if fairly dry, I use the end of a dinner knife to pick the sugar up out of the shallow dish where I’ve mixed it, then gently tap the dull side of the blade with my index finger to drop the sugar mixture onto the cookies, as one would do when using a salt dish at the table. Otherwise, just take a pinch of the mixture and rub your fingers together gently as you drop it onto the cookie.)
10. If you prefer just to sprinkle on the zested sugar, paint the cookies lightly with Cointreau and/or orange juice that has been strained (if you're using both, combine in a 1 to 1 ratio) and then sprinkle on the sugar mixture.
11. You could also put plain white sugar on, or sugar mixed with a spice such as allspice, cardamom or coriander, if you don't want to use zest. Of course, you can also sprinkle on purchased decorating products, if you like.
12. These don't have to be cut-out cookies, by the way. To make a round cookie, simply roll a piece of dough about the size of a large walnut into a ball, roll the ball in white granulated sugar to coat (this is optional), flatten with the bottom of a glass or jar, and bake in the oven as noted above.
13. Enjoy!! ;o)
14. Note: If you choose to use the Orange and Lemon Zest Sugar to decorate, make it before you start the cookie dough. The mixture is much easier to handle, and tastes stronger, if it’s had some time to sit, which allows the sugar to absorb the juices from the zest and then to dry slightly.
15. Also, you can make these with just lemons, or just oranges, if you prefer. I really like the two different flavors together, so I recommend using both.