Lemon Drop Cookies for Ashton's Housewarming
Do you ever look through old recipe books and find a recipe that truly surprises you? That's this recipe. Lemon Drop Cookies aren't a reference to the cocktail, not at all. They're named after that old-as-the-hills hard candy from Brachs that we all know and love.
When I was a kid, cough and throat drops made me sick to my stomach, so if I had a sore throat (and it was often - I perpetually had strep!), my mom would buy the sweet, tart Lemon Drops to soothe me. I still love them to this day, especially because they remind me of being cuddled up in my mom's bed with control of the TV remote.
So when I stumbled across the recipe for Lemon Drop Cookies in River Road Recipes, I knew I just had to make them. You know I'm no stranger to stuffing chocolate in cookies, but hard candy? This I had to try.
And, perfect timing, because my sweet friend Ashton from Something Swanky is getting a new house, and our mutual friend Roxana decided we should throw Miss Ashton a virtual housewarming party!
I have to tell you, these Lemon Drop cookies are exactly the thing to take to a housewarming party. Bright and crisp, buttery and chewy too, with bits of crunch that will have people guessing what went in them. They're just too good for words!
Ashton, there's nothing like owning your first home. Enjoy picking out paint and visiting Home Depot a thousand times in one weekend, and mowing your own lawn. Really, I mean it. There's just nothing like it!
Make sure you visit all of Ashton's party guests!
Julianne at Beyond Frosting - Pound cake with Champagne Glaze
Kate at Food Babbles - Raspberry Lemon Coffee Cake
Anna at Crunchy Creamy Sweet - Glazed Vanilla Donut Muffins
Loretta at A Finn in the Kitchen - Caramelized Almond Nougat Mousse Ice-cream
Joanne at Fifteen Spatulas - Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
Ashley at Kitchen Meets Girl - Blueberry Muffins
Amber at Bluebonnets & Brownies - Lemon Drop Cookies
Dorothy at Crazy for Crust - Reese's Fudge
Joan at Chocolate Chocolate and more - Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Quiche
Roxana at Roxana's Home Baking - Banana Sheet Cake
Julie at White Lights on Wednesday - Mocha Cupcake Milkshake
Hayley at The Domestic Rebel - Banana Split Poke Cake
Tanya at Lemons for Lulu - Lemon Muffins
Natasha at The Cake Merchant - Nutella Layer Cake
Jocelyn at Inside Brucrew Life - Butterscoth Banana Muffins
Lemon Drop Cookies
adapted from River Road Recipes
makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup finely crushed Lemon Drop candies
Directions
Cream together butter and sugar on medium speed with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add egg and mix again until fully encorporated, then lemon juice.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Whisk together to combine and aerate.
Crush lemon drop candies. You can use a food processor, but I went for the old fashioned route - a ziploc bag and a hammer. It worked fine. Mix the crushed candies into the flour mixture and whisk again.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture in stages, mixing after each addition.
Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes. When dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a small cookie scoop, portion out dough balls, placing them about 2" apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for exactly 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are slightly golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before moving to a cooling rack.
Notes: I goofed on this recipe and added double the butter. The original recipe calls for ½ a cup. But, I loved the chewy, flat texture of the cookies, so I left it as is. Feel free to revert to the original amount if desired.
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Lemon Drop Cookies for Ashton's Housewarming - - - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
These are such unique cookies and they sound just wonderful! Never in a million years would I have thought to use lemon drops or any hard candy in a cookie. It's such a great idea and I can practically taste them from your description. Yum! I'll have to give these a try for sure.
YUM! I love lemon drops! I've got to try these.
Wow, so many other lemon lovers out there - solidarity, sisters! Lemon Drops will always remind me of fun times at Skateland (for roller, not ice, skating - and yes, there were crazy 70s-style disco lights!)... always had to cruise up to the snack bar for a box!
Congratulations Ashton!!
LEMON?!! YES!!! Cookies?! Yes!!
I LOVE any dessert with lemon in it and this recipe is going into my keeper file.
I remember the box of candy Lemon Heads from grade school.....the joy of a great sour-pucker ! LOL!! All my pennies were saved till I could collect enough for two little boxes.....then I was in heaven....LOL! Just a side note...I NEVER SHARED my sour little jewels. 🙂
Thank you for the memories and this totally yummy lemony cookie recipe.
Just like you I have a history of adding stuff to my cookies but hard candies, now this is something I have yet to try. Thanks for the inspiration and recipe Amber
My jaw hurts, in a good way, just looking at these. Going on the to do list.
Lemon desserts .. be still my heart! My favorite in all dessert land. These cookies look amazeballs, Amber!
I have been into lemon desserts lately! Love it! These cookies are spectacular! My mouth is watering just looking at them. I think I'll be in the kitchen trying my hand at these!
Oh my gosh, I love these! And I love the nostalgia behind the lemon drops. And I love you! I can't believe you all did this without me knowing!!!! What a very sweet bunch of friends you are!!!!!! Thank you SO much 🙂
I love lemon in cookies anyway and yours look perfect- chewy and delicate.
Happy new home, Ashton!
Yum, your cookies look and sound so delicious - I love lemony baked goods!
These are gorgeous, love lemon!
New bloglovin follower, found you via Roxana at Roxana's Home Baking,
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(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤... Jennifer
Jenn's Random Scraps
MMMM I can tell just how soft these cookies are! Yum! Thanks for sharing!
I love that you crush the candies so they get into every bite of cookie. All the yellow is seriously brightening my day!
These look so good. My sister and I used to walk to the corner store and buy little boxes of Lemon Drops for $0.10. Just their name brings back memories of the way they feel on your tongue when you first put them in your mouth: Slightly scratchy and with plenty of pucker-inducing sour.