The secret to these soft and chewy raspberry lemonade cookies is the whole boiled lemon!
A little while ago, my family and I visited the library. As I normally do, I browsed the new releases section for new cookbooks. This cookie cookbook was sitting there, so I excitedly picked it up. I happily browsed it when we got home but nothing really spoke to me.
Addie, on the other hand, started bookmarking some recipes she wanted to try. The first one that caught her eye were these raspberry lemonade cookies. I eventually added the ingredients to my shopping list but totally forgot that we were almost out of freeze dried raspberries. When I went to the store to find the, all they had was strawberry (and blueberry, but I opted not to color my cookies blue).
When I read the first instruction to these cookies, I was shocked. It involved boiling a lemon for 45 minutes! I trusted the process and followed the directions. These cookies were a labor of love and took a long time to assemble. I dirtied a lot of fishes and had to wash the food processor twice. Don’t make these unless you have some time to spare. But, know that the time you spent in the kitchen will be worth it, as these were some of the best cookies to ever come out of my kitchen – and they don’t even contain chocolate!
I was surprised at how soft and chewy these cookies were. The boiled lemon (and turning into a tangzhong-like paste) really made a huge difference in creating a fluffy texture. If and when I had the time to spare, I would definitely make these again.
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Raspberry lemonade cookies
Ingredients
- 1 (5 ounces or 140 grams) large lemon
- 2 and ¼ cups (319 grams) all-purpose flour divided
- 1 and ¾ cups (350 grams) granulated sugar divided
- 1 and ¾ cups (28 grams) freeze dried raspberries I used a mix of raspberries and strawberries
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (75 grams) full fat sour cream
- ¼ cup (50 grams) vegetable oil I used canola
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a tall saucepan, add about 2 inches of water. Add the lemon so that it floats. Turn your stovetop to medium high and allow the water to boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. The lemon will puff up while it is cooking.
- Remove the lemon from the water and pls e it on a cutting board to cool. Once it’s cool enough to handle, remove the seeds. Cut the lemon into smaller pieces and pulse in a food processor or high powdered blender.
- Transfer the chopped lemon to a small saucepan and add 2 Tablespoons of flour. Turn the heat to low while you constantly mix to form a paste. This process will take about 1 minute.
- Transfer the lemon mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer.
- Add 1 and ½ cups of the sugar and mix on medium speed until the mixture is uniform. Let the lemon sugar mixture rest for 15 minutes.
- In a clean (and fully dried) food processor, pulse the freeze dried raspberries into a fine powder. Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl and filter the raspberry powder through it to remove the seeds.
- Add the remaining 2 cups and 2 Tablespoons (301 grams) of flour, plus the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the raspberry powder. Mix well.
- Turn the mixer to medium low and add the butter. Mix for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add in the sour cream, oil, egg, and vanilla and mix well.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl as needed and let the batter rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar into a small bowl.
- Using a medium sized cookie scoop or two spoons, scoop out portions of dough and roll it into a ball with your hands. Roll the dough in the sugar so all sides are evenly coated. Place the dough on your prepared pan, making sure to leave at least 1-2 inches in between each mound of dough. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 6 minutes. Then rotate the pans, top to bottom and front to back, and bake an additional 6 minutes. The cookies should be lightly browned on the edges.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely. I opted to add a glaze to mine. I combined about 1 cup of powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon of lemon extract and a few Tablespoons of water and drizzled the top of my cool cookies.