Chewy Lemon Cookies
These cookies have an Italian-inspired taste and an American texture. The flavors of lemon, polenta and rosemary may remind you of biscotti, or a lemon-polenta cake, but the cookies are as crisp-edged and chewy-centered as they come. The recipe uses Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging technique, which requires quite a specific dough-ball size and wide spacing on the sheet pan to work. Make sure each round of dough is 3 ounces, and don’t bake more than four balls on one pan. These giant cookies are even better when they’ve cooled slightly — they become chewier and the rosemary emerges.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 12 persons
Ingredients
- 4teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons), plus zest of 4 lemons
- 5 ½cups/180 grams all-purpose flour
- ½cup/90 grams cornmeal, preferably medium-grind for polenta
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- ½teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1cup/227 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½cups/300 grams granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup/50 grams for coating
- 1large egg
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center. Line 2 or 3 sheet pans with parchment paper. The cookies are baked in 3 batches because they spread dramatically, but the first sheet pan can be reused after it’s cooled if you don’t have a second or third.Step 2
Place the rosemary in your smallest bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice to prevent the rosemary from browning.Step 3
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar.Step 4
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy, about 1 minute. (You can also do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) Add 1 1/2 cups/300 grams sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.Step 5
Add the egg, lemon zest and rosemary mixture and combine on low speed. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. If the dough is very soft, refrigerate it for 15 minutes to firm up.Step 6
Divide the dough into 12 even pieces, form into balls, then roll each one in the remaining 1/4 cup/50 grams sugar. Space 3 or 4 cookies an equal distance apart on each sheet pan.Step 7
Bake each pan 1 at a time on the center rack. When the dough has spread and puffed in the center, after 8 minutes, lift one side of the sheet pan up about 4 inches and drop it so it bangs against the oven rack, then rotate the pan and lift and drop again. You will see the dough ripple as it falls. Continue to bake until the edges are golden brown but the centers remain pale and fudgy, 6 to 8 minutes longer.Step 8
Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.