Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

These Lemon Cloud cookies just about melt in your mouth.  They’re simple and delicate with a slight bite and romantic texture.  You can either flavor them with lemon or orange.

Yield:

Makes 48 small cookies.

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 3/4 cup cornstarch
3. 4 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1/8 teaspoon salt
5. 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
6. 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
7. 2 large eggs
8. 1 teaspoon vanilla
9. 1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange extract
10. 1 teaspoons finely grated lemon or orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed with the paddle until well mixed. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until light, about 2 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Batter may look broken and curdled. Beat in the extracts and zest.
5. Decrease the speed to low and beat in the flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a few good turns with your spatula to bring it all together.
6. Arrange rounded teaspoons of the dough on a pan lined with parchment paper. Space the balls about 2-inches apart. After all the cookies have been placed on the pan, flour a fork and press a crisscross design into the top of each mound of dough. Bake the cookies until they spread and become golden, about 20 minutes. Slide the parchment paper off the pan to cool completely.

Notes