make the meyer lemon sugar cookies

Starting with room temperature butter, mix with the sugar, salt, and zest until slightly creamed (lighter, fully combined). Add the vanilla and egg (and lemon extract, if using), mixing until just combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl to make sure there are no bits that haven’t been mixed.

Add the flour, cornstarch and baking powder (if using). Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. 

Roll the dough between parchment to your desired thickness, I like ¼″, before chilling for about two hours (or up to five days if it’s sealed sufficiently).

When it’s time to bake, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) and cut shapes from the dough. Re-roll the scraps, chill for about 10 minutes, and cut shapes again. To help keep the shapes of the cookies, I like to chill the cut shapes for about 10 minutes before baking them. This works out as one sheet is chilling while the other bakes. You can chill in the fridge or freezer.

Bake the cookies until they’re fully set and no longer shiny. This cookie is meant to be softer, so don’t over bake. If you prefer a crunchier cookie, roll a bit thinner and bake for longer.

Once the cookies are baked, allow them to cool for five minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Moving them prematurely can cause them to break.

make the meyer lemon royal icing

While the cookies are cooling, make the lemon royal icing. To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the meringue powder, salt, and 1/3 cup liquid (about half each lemon juice and water). Whisk until frothy and until there are no lumps. Add the powdered sugar and mix on a low speed until the mixture is smooth and combined. Add the vanilla, corn syrup, and food coloring and mix for 3 minutes on a medium speed (speed 4 on the stand mixer). If the icing is extremely thick, add a bit of water or lemon juice. The icing should be a thicker consistency that is similar to toothpaste and glossy. Bag a small amount of this for the outline. Add additional lemon juice (or water if you don’t want it too lemony- taste test!) and mix until the icing is a flood consistency. It should be similar to honey- thickly drippy. Bag this icing and set aside.

To decorate, use the toothpaste consistency icing to pipe an outline all around the perimeter of the cookie. Use the flood consistency icing to flood the cookie. Sprinkle the wet icing with granulated sugar and allow to dry for 8-12 hours.

Once dry, gently brush off the excess sugar. Use brown or black royal icing (or melted chocolate) to pipe the eyes and mouth.