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They say that who your friends are reflect a part of yourself, and for me, I think that’s so true.  When I think of my friends Phi and Karen, who we are and what we do are so similar that sometimes it’s plain scary.  Phi has been my sistah-friend since the third grade, and back in the day, we would whip up any concoction our young cooking minds allowed us to imagine (I just remember her poor dad struggling through a smile at our somewhat-coffee cake, while we looked so proud of ourselves).  Heck, I’m sure we even made our Barbies cook.  Even now, twenty years later, we’ll be on the same wavelength and make the same things without even knowing it (look at the last post – she made pork tenderloin too!).  We talk about food all the time; I’ll tell her that I’m craving xoi lap xuong (Vietnamese sticky rice with caramelized onions, shrimp, and sausage), and she’ll tell me that she and her hubby just made it!

Now Karen I met while Phong and I were dating – her now-hubby has been Phong’s friend since they both were still in diapers.  We knew we’d be great friends once we both realized that quality food, Etsy, Anthropologie, and cute little Parisian things were just some of the things we had in common.  So how excited was I, to receive a birthday package filled with gourmet goodies, a cookbook, my old embosser (which finally gave back to me…a year later!), and some lemon tea cookies that she handmade with a cute recipe card attached to it?  And even MORE stoked that she put the nutrition info on it too?!  Wow, these people know me.

So here’s Karen’s recipe for her lemon tea cookies.  They are so tasty and literally melt in your mouth.  The cookies are basically a shortbread-type cookie and even though they use a bit of butter, they make 60 cookies and would be perfect for a bridal or baby shower, or even as part of favors for a party.  Mini is the new in; these cookies are a true example of portioning out decadent foods without depriving your hankering for quality desserts.  There’s no need for those gargantuan-sized desserts at restaurants where you’ll be set back about 15oo calories (yes, I’m telling you the truth – check out this link!).  What’s great about this recipe is that you can even halve the recipe as I did this afternoon, and enjoy one or two cookies with some Earl Grey tea (my favorite – unsweetened, no milk).

Lemon Tea Cookies

makes about 60 mini cookies

For the cookies:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon zest

For the frosting:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit the 1/8 tsp of salt above)

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Make that dough:

Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, confectioner’s sugar, and salt in a bowl.  Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed; add the lemon juice and zest, and beat until well-combined.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat on low speed until well-combined.

Shape that dough:

Divide the dough in half or quarters.  Roll each half into a log about 1- 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Bake your cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Cut each log into 1/4-inch slices.  Arrange them 1 inch apart on a baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Cool the cookies, and spread lemon frosting on each cookie.

For the lemon frosting:

Beat the confectioner’s sugar, butter, and lemon juice in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Nutrition Facts (per 1 cookie): 58 calories, 2.9 grams fat, 0.4 grams protein, 6 grams carbs, 7.6 mg cholesterol