Glazed Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Happy Mother’s Day!

How do you celebrate?

I know my boys made little gifts in school that they’ll present later on. 

In past year I’ve “taken the day off”.  I went out shopping and we ordered pizza for dinner…and I had a huge backlog of chores to do on Monday (boo).

This year, I decided that I want to cook and bake all day and make some sort of extravagant dinner.  I requested that my gift be that everyone else cleans up instead of me, but honestly?  If it doesn’t happen, it’s not big deal.  I’m hoping for a family bike ride, but I think it’s supposed to be rainy, so maybe we’ll go out for ice cream instead.

Yes, this Mother’s Day, I want to do what I always do.  I want to be the mom.  I’ll take anything special that happens to come my way, but really, I want to be my kids’ mom – it’s seriously the best job in the world!

And to celebrate, how about some cookies?

A couple year ago, I discovered that shortbread cookies are the best ever (not the icky one that come in a tin though…the homemade ones).  I wanted to make something fresh and lemony for spring and lemon shortbreads sounded like the way to go!  And were they ever!

I sent a batch of these to Spud’s (2^nd grade) class just for fun and immediately had to make another batch for home!  They were delicious!

These are perfect for Mother’s day or any spring luncheon!

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Adapted slightly from Taste of Home

Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Zest from 1 lemon (about 1 ½ teaspoons)

2 cups all purpose flour

Glaze

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Juice from 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat until smooth.

Add the salt, vanilla, lemon zest and flour and mix until well blended.

Place the dough on a liberally floured work area.  Roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness.  Use a 2 ½-inch round cookie cutter to cut cookies.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the pans for 5 minutes, then move to wire racks and cool completely.

To make the glaze, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Slow stir in lemon juice until the glaze reaches the desired consistently.  Decorate with royal icing flowers, if desired.  Dry the cookies overnight, then stack and store in an airtight container.