Lemon Thins

I have a weakness for all things lemon, and lemon and sugar is simply an irresistible combination, so when I saw this recipe for Lemon Thins in The Gourmet Cookie Book, I knew they would be in our not-too-distant future. They are delicate, thin lemon crisps, and it's very hard to eat just one. As a gift for friends, they'll be remembered a very long time. So from the April 1976 archives of Gourmet magazine ... (drum roll please) ...

Lemon Thins
(April 1976)
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

In a bowl, beat 2 eggs with ⅔ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture forms a ribbon when the beater is lifted, and add 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind. In a bowl, beat ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, softened, until it is light and fluffy and add it to the egg mixture alternatively with ⅔ cup flour. Drop the batter by teaspoons 2½ inches apart on buttered baking sheets, flatten the mounds into 2-inch rounds with a spoon dipped in water, and bake the cookies in a preheated hot oven (400℉) for 5 minutes, or until the edges are browned. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 minute, transfer them with a spatula to a rack, and let them cool completely.

 

RECIPE NOTES

1. Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs with the sugar, and don't be surprised if it takes more than 4 minutes to ribbon the mixture, it usually takes 8 minutes for me.
2. Use grated lemon zest (without any of the bitter white pith). Meyer lemon zest is great too!
3. Truly use a teaspoon to drop the cookies (I use an ice teaspoon and it's perfect), they look small but remember these will be flattened, will spread a little during cooking, and are meant to be quite thin.
4. If possible use, medium-weight, light-colored cookie sheets, not nonstick. In dark metal pans the cookies may brown more and cooking time may be shorter.
5. Allow the cookies to ret when taken from the oven only 10-15 seconds before removing them to a cooling rack. They are soft then. If you wait for the perscribed 1 minute, the edges get too hard and they crumble when you remove them from the pan.
6. When baking batches of cookies, be sure the pans have cooled before you place more dough on them; a warm pan will cause the cookies to spread too much.

Comments

[Robert]

Oh what delicious photos ! I hurt my hand when I reached to the monitor to grab one ! Folks you can always use Splenda in the same amt as sugar.

[Claudia]

Emily, My apologies. Yes there is sugar, ⅔ of a cup in fact. I have reposted the recipe with the correction. Many thanks for pointing it out.

[Emily Wexler]

These cookies look divine. Is there sugar in the recipe? You refer to beating the eggs with the sugar.

Many thanks.

I love your blog!