Treble Clef Chef: Lemon-Cornmeal Cookies

Sometimes, you just gotta have a cookie. That's how I felt the other night, but I didn't want to go into a long and laborious, time consuming cookie making session. Those times are left to Christmas when I want to make special recipes that are a bit more involved and require a bit of attention to detail.

No, I wanted something very quick, easy, healthy and tasty. So I headed to my Everyday Food Magazine collection and found this recipe which filled the bill. I'm not sure, but I think these cookies have their origin in Italy. (don't quote me on that!). They are more of a "crunchy" cookie, rather than a soft and chewy cookie. They are great with a cup of tea and have a wonderful, fresh lemon taste.

Lemon-Cornmeal Cookies

Ingredients~

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 C yellow cornmeal
1 TBL finely grated lemon zest (I used the zest of 2 small lemons)
1/2 tsp salt
12 TBL (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
3/4 C sugar
1 large egg

Directions~

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, whisk together four, cornmeal, lemon zest and salt.

2. In a large bowl mix butter, sugar, and egg until combined. Gradually add dry ingredients until moistened.

3. Pinch off and roll dough between hands to form balls, each equal to 1 1/2 TBL (I used a small cookie scoop for uniform size). Place on 2 baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. With fingers or palm of hand, flatten balls to 3/4 inch thickness.