“Mom, I want to bake something this afternoon.”
Music to my ears. My eldest daughter wanted to bake. Yay! I suggested she bake something that would make a delicious addition to her (and her sister’s) lunchbox. So, she decided to make a batch of lemon poppy seed cookies. Fabulous. We looked for a recipe and set off to bake the cookies.
Now, when baking with kids things don’t always go as planned. I asked her to make sure we had all the ingredients she needed. “Sure.” she said. But, we didn’t.
“Mom, where are the eggs?” “Do we have anymore butter?”
“Nope, we don’t have any eggs and there isn’t anymore butter.”
First lesson learned…make sure you have all the ingredients you need to make a recipe. Enter a lesson on modifying a recipe.
Take 2 – Dad brought home the eggs. After preparing the cookie dough it was time to drop the cookies on the baking sheet.
“STOP! Follow the recipe. The sugar and zest are for rolling the cookies in – not adding to the batter. Right?!” I asked – already knowing the answer.
“Opps.” Second lesson learned…read the recipe all the way through before doing ANYTHING.
Cookies baked and cooled.
There is nothing quite like enjoying a batch of cookies that your tween baked, all by herself (sort of). This recipe has a few challenging steps – like melting butter and zesting lemons. In the end, the cookies are lemony, crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside – even with a little less butter. They will make the perfect addition to this week’s lunch boxes…thanks to my daughter.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp poppy seeds
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1. Whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.
2. Add lemon juice to a small sauce pan. Bring to boil and simmer until reduced by half. Once reduced add 1/2 cup of butter, stir until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Beat together 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup sugar. Beat until creamy.
4. Add egg to butter and sugar – beat until creamy and fluffy.
5. Mix in vanilla and poppy seeds.
6. Stir in flour mixture and mix until well combined.
7. In a separate bowl, combine lemon zest and 1/2 cup sugar.
8. Scoop 1 tsp of dough and roll into ball. Drop dough ball in sugar and zest and roll to coat.
9. Bake cookies in 375°F oven for 12 minutes – until bottom is golden. 
10. Cool on rack and enjoy.
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