Lemon-Glazed Caraway Cookies
Photo Credit : Michael PiazzaThis recipe takes us back beyond the 1960s to the very beginning of American cooking. In fact, its roots are in the first cookbook ever published here, a 1796 work called American Cookery, printed in Hartford, Connecticut, by Hudson & Goodwin. Its author, Amelia Simmons, described herself simply as “An American Orphan” and left behind few records of her life. Her recipes for British-inspired cookery are her legacy.
The book includes just two cookie recipes. One is “Another Christmas Cookey,” which begins, “To three pound of flour, sprinkle a tea cup of fine powdered coriander seed, rub in one pound of butter, and one and a half pound sugar …” Spices such as aniseed, coriander, and caraway seeds were prized in 18th-century British and American cooking, and caraway cookies remained popular in New England over the decades, appearing many times in Yankee. This recipe for caraway cookies comes from a December 1962 story, during a period of renewed interest in historic foods. The cookies were delicious but a little plain, so we made some adjustments, including a lemon glaze. Now they’re perfect: fragrant, buttery, and just sweet enough.
Find more recipes for “Cookies Through the Decades.”
Yield:
3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on sizeFor the cookie dough:
Ingredients
1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
Unsalted butter (for pans)
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, plus more for garnish
Instructions
Using a hand-held or standing mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the butter in a slow drizzle, beating as you go. Add the lemon extract and beat to combine.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until evenly combined.
Divide the dough into two equal portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day.
Preheat your oven to 350° and set two racks to the middle, with space in between. Grease two baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
Dust the counter with flour and roll out the first portion of dough about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle all over with 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds; then roll once more with the pin.
Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and arrange on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Gather and reroll dough as needed. Repeat with the second portion of dough.
Bake until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
For the glaze:
Ingredients
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3–4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Make the glaze: Drizzle 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, and stir with a fork until it forms a smooth paste with the consistency of honey. Add another tablespoon of lemon juice if needed. Set the wire racks over waxed paper and drizzle each cookie with a teaspoon of glaze, using the back of a spoon to spread. Sprinkle with a pinch of caraway seeds. These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Amy Traverso
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
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