AMISH COOKIES (LEMON SUGAR COOKIES)

The footnote on this recipe says, "The recipe for this delicious Pennsylvania Dutch cookie was passed down in the family of Kay Wunsch of Hubertus." I found the recipe in Milwaukee Sentinel Food Fair and Cooking School's 1983 Recipe Book. They should have added the word "awesome" in that note. It's too bad Kay Wunsch didn't have a more descriptive name for the cookie. If I were naming them, I would call them Lemon Sugar Cookies because that's what the cookies taste like.

My cookie jar was empty and I had seen the recipe a few weeks ago. Like so many cookie recipes I find, it made 6-1/2 dozen cookies. Rarely do I want to make that many cookies unless I need a bunch to take somewhere. The first thing I always do is look to see how many eggs the recipe calls for. That's about the only ingredient I can't halve very well if it isn't an even number. Lucky me, the recipe called for 2 eggs. I halved everything else except the lemon extract. I felt like 1/2 teaspoon wouldn't be enough so I added a whole teaspoon (the amount the full recipe called for). Even if I made the full recipe, I would double the extract. That's what gives the cookies the lemon taste.

I am going to give you the recipe I used. If you want to make more, it will be easy for you to double the recipe.

AMISH COOKIES (LEMON SUGAR COOKIES)

1/2       cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
1/4       cup + 2 tablespoons oil (that is 3/4 cup oil if you double the recipe)
1/2       cup granulated sugar
1/2       cup powdered sugar
1          egg
1          teaspoon lemon extract
2          cups flour
1/2       teaspoon salt
1/2       teaspoon baking soda
additional sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars

(til light and fluffy). (I just let the mixer run while I gathered all of the other ingredients together. The mixture was light and fluffy when I finished.) Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add egg and lemon extract.

Mix thoroughly.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add to creamed mixture and mix until blended.

Scrape the sides of the bowl again.

Make balls of 1 level tablespoon of dough and place on ungreased cookie sheet, preferably one with a non-stick surface.

(A cookie scoop works great for this.)

Press each "cookie" lightly with a fork dipped in sugar. (If you like, you can add a little extra sugar if not much sticks to the dough when you flatten it.)

Bake for 12 minutes. Be careful not to let the cookies brown. (12 minutes was perfect in my oven.)

Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

They made the prettiest, uniform cookie. Very impressive if you want to give them away or serve them to guests. They are perfect alone, but would also be good with a dish of sherbet or ice cream.