Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

A little over a year ago now, Jason and I were introduced to our current group of friends via a little Thursday night activity called Game Night. Invited by Joshua + Liz and originally orchestrated by David + Traci, Game Night has not only added excitement to our Thursday nights but more importantly, it has transformed our social life. And then there is the other added bonus for me: people to feed! While I was making cookies Wednesday night for our weekly fun, I was also on the phone with an old friend of mine. He was looking through pictures on Facebook, trying to understand why we were all dressed up -- one friend in a giant bow tie and another with giant white balloons attached to her shirt -- standing around with various items (awards, actually) in our hands in someone's living room. It made me smile to think of all the varying personalities that come together and all the inexplicably funny inside jokes that come out of our weekly fun.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Preheat oven 375º

In an electric mixing bowl, cream together:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar*
1/2 teaspoon salt

One at a time, mix until well-blended:
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg

Add:
2 teaspoons vanilla

Gradually add in:
2 1/2 cups flour
After each addition, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add:
zest of one medium lemon
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

*If you don't have superfine sugar, you can make it yourself by pulsing 1 cup sugar in your food processor for 30-45 seconds

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerator for at least an hour (don't skip this step, otherwise your dough will be very sticky and nearly impossible to work with). I refrigerated it overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Cut in half and place half back in fridge. With the remaining half, cut into 1/2 inches slices and then into small cubes. Using your hands, roll into balls and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. If dough is too sticky, lightly flour your hands. Using the bottom of a floured spatula or water glass, flatten the balls into discs. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately transfer to wire cooling rack.

I was originally going to ice these cookies, but I didn't want to mask the taste of the cookie so instead I opted to glaze the cookies.

Glaze
In a small bowl, combine:
juice from one medium lemon
4 spoonfuls of sugar
Microwave for 20 seconds. Remove and stir. Repeat until the sugar granules have dissolved. Using a basting brush, spread of light layer of the glaze on each cookie.

Eat up!