Christmas Cake Pops!

These were an absolute blast! These Christmas pops were my first shipped order. I'm still waiting to hear if they made it there in one piece.....

  

 

 

 

 

 

The whole gang finally together! =)

Here's to hoping that your holidays are as cute and yummy as these little dudes are!

Now, on to the Christmas cookies! <3 

@--,--

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

If I could bake a batch of cookies every single day, for the rest of my life, for the sole reason of being able to watch people's reaction as they bit into said cookies, I would be the happiest girl that baked cookies in the world. There is a simple kind of joy I can't express that comes along with knowing that something you created is being enjoyed by others.

And I would definitely start with this cookie here. 

Lemon. Poppyseed. Cookies. 

Holy smokes, people. 

I never really thought of myself as a picky eater, but the person I eat food with the most would beg to differ. (For starters, I don't like mint or onions- seriously, what's a girl's tastebuds to do?!) Anywho, I have all sorts of exceptions and rules for all things lemon. Lemon in water- no way. Lemonade- sign me up! Lemon meringue pie- not so much.

Which is why I was skeptical of my recent desire to make these lemon poppyseed cookies. I think subconsciously for the last year, I've been randomly daydreaming about these lemon poppyseed muffins I made in baking class. They seriously were the best muffins I had ever tasted in my life.

See? I'm salivating right now!

Anyways, a super simple cookie. The hardest part about making these cookies was locating poppy seeds in Wegmans, due to the very kind customer who bought out all of the poppy seeds the day before, in a quest to make poppy seed bagels. Which I'm all for, but just not when I'm on a mission for poppy seeds, you know what I'm saying?

Definitely glad I tried these out- would be a nice change up on a Christmas cookie platter, but definitely looking forward to a summer picnic to bring these little jobbers too! =)


Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Recipe adapted from Bakerita 

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1-1.5 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg

Glaze

• ½-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside. In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the almond extract and egg until blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated.

2. Drop balls of dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart (these cookies worked well using a cookie scoop). Bake for 9-11 minutes (mine were good between 11-12 minutes with an air bake baking sheet) or until cookies are set and just beginning to brown at the edges (do not let the tops brown). Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack set over wax paper to cool a bit before glazing.

3. To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, almond extract and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  Add lemon juice or more confectioners' sugar to your liking, and to get a good consistency to drizzle over cookies. Glaze the cookies and let the glaze set before serving.  Store in an airtight container.


Yields 18-24 cookies

Positively refreshing! Lemon lovers everywhere will enjoy! And maybe even some on the fence about lemon! *wink wink!*

Now go! Eat, drink, and be merry!

@--,--