Southern Valentine’s Day Cookies

Lemon-Poppy Seed Cookies & Buttermilk Glaze

Makes about eight 4-inch cookies

Cookies

1) Beat these ingredients with an electric stand mixer until creamy and smooth:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. lemon zest

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2) Add these ingredients and blend just until combined:

1 cup flour

1 tsp. poppy seeds

Salt…just a smidge

3) Roll small pieces of dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes. Cool completely before dipping in glaze and decorating as you wish.

Buttermilk Glaze

whisk together

1 (16-oz.) box powdered sugar

6 Tbsp. whole buttermilk

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Divide between several bowls and tint with your favorite food paste colors.

Testing note

Milk is thinner than buttermilk.

If you make a substitution you’ll need a touch less.

Good to know — The cookies:

This is a small batch dough. Be sure to stop the mixer often to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Handle the dough as little as possible. You don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. I was able to fit the entire recipe on one sheet pan. These spread very little during baking. The cookies baked for 11 minutes in my oven. You’re looking for lightly browned edges. Bake like-size cookies together because smaller ones will need less time in the oven. I tested these twice as they needed more of everything. I wanted lemon punch from the zest in the cookie without compromising the dough texture. I added some juice to the glaze to balance. 

The decorating:

I used a icing tip by Ateco to pipe the messages. For brighter cookies with more saturated color, layer the same paste and sugar color when glazing and  dipping. Set aside a small bowl of uncolored glaze to use for piping. Add several teaspoons of meringue powder to make a quick royal icing. If you need to stiffen it a smidge, add a little powdered sugar and beat like crazy and then add your favorite color. Less is more to start with in that department. For more cookie decorating tips visit buttermilklipstick.com.