I had quite a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice to use up after zesting a bunch for cookies. So I went searching for recipes. Earlier this year, I had bought a small tin of lemon thins and really wanted to find a similar recipe. Lemon thins are basically lemon wafers, thin, with a pleasing snap. I found this recipe and only made a couple edits. They came out nicely, with a lovely zesty lemon zip, like a crispy shortbread.
I did notice that the timing was right down to the wire. When baking, start at 6 minutes and then go in 30 second increments. The perfect time for my stove (sea level, convection) was 6 1/2 minutes. At 7 minutes they turned a little too brown.
I also only rolled them out to 1/8″ and I used a Wilton rolling pin with the guide rings to get an even depth of cookie. It made about 50-55 cookies depending on your cutter.
I tried a twist on my cookies this year and reduced passionfruit juice down instead of lemon. It unfortunately didn’t impart quite enough flavor, so I think I would try actual passionfruit pulp next time.
I also did them in my Ninja Foodie 8-in-1 and they baked perfectly at 4 minutes (turning the pan 180 degrees after 2 minutes) at 375F. I used a snowflake cutter this time and they came out perfectly at the 4-minute mark.
Lemon Thins Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter cut into several pieces
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- White sparkling sugar
Instructions
- In a small ceramic pot, bring the lemon juice to a boil, whisking while it heats. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, until it reduces to about a tablespoon.
- Turn down the heat to medium low and add the butter, a few pieces at a time. Whisking until the butter has melted.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Sift the flour, add the baking soda and salt, and set aside.
- Place the egg and egg yolk in a large bowl, and using a hand mixer, beat until the egg has combined.
- Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is creamy and pale.
- While beating on low, drizzle in the melted butter mixture, until everything is blended.
- Add half of the flour mixture until everything is blended, add the other half and mix only until everything is blended.
- Cover the bowl with saran wrap and set in the fridge for an hour.
- Cut the dough into 4 equal portions.
- Place a portion on a piece of parchment paper, press flat with your hand. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll out to 1/8" thick. Slip the parchment onto a cookie sheet and repeat with each portion, stacking each piece on top of each other.
- Place the cookie sheet into the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Line an insulated baking sheet with a silpat pad and preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut with a 2 1/2" cookie cutter, remove from the parchment paper, sprinkle with the sparkling sugar and place on the silpat pad about an inch apart.
- Bake the cookies for 6 minutes to start, baking for an additional 30 seconds at a time, until the cookies are baked, but NOT brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes on the tray then move to a cooling rack.
Notes
I rotated a couple insulated pans, rolling out excess, and putting it into the fridge. Adapted from The Tummy Train