Lemon Semolina Cookies
Submitted by dhuster
Lemon semolina cookies with fresh zest, fresh juice, and a sandy crunch from durum flour. Italian-style slice-and-bake cookies with a chewy center and crystalline sugar top.
YIELD
84 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
10 minREADY
100 minSemolina is the secret ingredient that takes these cookies out of generic shortbread territory and into something distinctive. Made from coarsely ground durum wheat, semolina gives cookies a sandy, slightly nubby texture with a delicate yellow color, the same quality that makes Italian semolina cakes so distinctive. Three cups of semolina alongside one cup of regular flour is the sweet ratio. The semolina dominates without becoming gritty. Two whole lemons (zest and juice both) infuse the dough with bright citrus from the inside out, and the sugar dusting on top forms a sparkly crystalline crust as it bakes. The slice-and-bake log technique is the move that gives you 84 cookies from one batch with minimal effort. Form the logs, chill, slice, sugar, bake. The only critical detail: keep everything cold between steps. Warm dough turns soft and sticky, and the slices won’t hold their round shape. Watch for the surface to start cracking slightly as the visual cue. Pull at that moment for chewy centers that firm up as they cool.
Pro Tips
- Use a Microplane for the lemon zest. The fine grate releases the most aromatic oils without bitter pith.
- Make sure the butter is softened but not warm. Soft butter creams properly; warm butter melts and ruins the dough.
- Roll the logs as evenly as possible. Uneven thickness means uneven cookies.
- Chill the sliced cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before baking. Cold dough holds its shape; warm dough spreads.
- These cookies firm up dramatically as they cool. Pull from the oven when they look slightly underdone.
Variations
- Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract along with the vanilla for an Italian-style flavor profile.
- Stir in ½ cup of finely chopped pistachios for color and crunch.
- Use orange zest and juice in place of lemon for a different citrus profile.
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the zest, and juice from at least 2 lemons to have 2 tablespoons peel and ½ cup juice. Set aside.
Cream the butter, vanilla, sugar and salt.
Add the egg, lemon juice and zest, and beat until just combined.
Reserve any extra lemon juice for another use.
Decrease the speed and add the semolina and the flour, beating until just well mixed.
Divide dough in half, forming 2 balls.
Wrap balls in plastic and chill for one hour.
Keeping dough refrigerated between steps, roll each ball into a log 10½ inches long.
It will be about 2 inches in diameter.
Set oven to 325℉ (160℃).
Cut ¼ inch slices and lay out on plastic wrap, sprinkle lightly with sugar, roll lightly with rolling pin to press in sugar (or use the bottom of a glass for this step).
Lay cookies on unbuttered baking sheet, reforming with fingers to make nice even rounds.
Chill 10 minutes or until firm.
Bake in the center of the oven about 10 minutes or until surface starts to crack slightly.
(Not big cracks like crinkle cookies get, more like a change of texture.)
Let cool some before removing from baking sheets.
They are very tender while hot. Will be chewy at first, but will harden as they cool.
Comments
I thinkk half the recipe is missing ie - incorporating semolina and flour etc
Thanks for your comment, just fixed the recipe, now the recipe is completed, enjoy recipeland.