Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies
 
Ingredients
Cookies:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (spoon and level method)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional) *
  • zest from 1 lemon
  • ⅓ cup milk
Royal Icing:
  • 2 cup (215g) powdered sugar
  • 1½ Tablespoons (15g) meringue powder
  • 3-4 Tablespoons (45-60g) warm water
  • Yellow food dye
Instructions
For the Cookies:
  1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until it is smooth.
  3. Add sugar gradually.
  4. Mix in egg yolks, vanilla, almond extract, and lemon zest and blend well.
  5. Add dry ingredients gradually to wet ingredients alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
  6. Form dough into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap.
  7. Chill for at least 1 hour in refrigerator or until firm.
  8. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
  9. Flour a clean, dry surface and a rolling pin very well.
  10. Roll dough out one disk at a time on a well floured surface to ⅛-1/4 inch thickness. Leave the disk you are not working with in the fridge so it stays cold.
  11. Cut with a circle cookie cutter or biscuit cutter and then cut the circle in half to make the lemon wedge shape. Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.
  12. Bake for 6-9 minutes.
  13. Cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes and then carefully remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Icing:
  1. With an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water together on high until smooth and shiny, about 3 minutes. If you pull the whisk attachment out of the icing, it should be thick enough that the dripping icing does not immediately meld into the icing in the bowl but not so thick that it is a frosting consistency. If it is too thin, add some more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little water.
  2. Put ⅔ of the icing in another bowl (you can use a paper bowl so you can throw it away later) and mix in yellow food coloring.
  3. Using a piping bag with a Wilton #2 tip, pipe the yellow border of the lemon slice.
  4. Thin the yellow icing with just a bit of water so you can flood the cookie. If you pull a spoon out of the icing, the dripping icing should now quickly meld into the icing in the bowl. You can either pipe the thinned icing onto the cookie or use a spoon and use the back of the spoon to spread the icing around.
  5. Using another piping bag with a Wilton #2 or #1 tip, pipe the white details in. If you want a 3D effect, wait for the yellow icing to dry. If you want it to meld together, pipe the white icing before the yellow icing dries.
  6. Let the icing dry for 2-3 hours before stacking the cookies.
Notes
* you can skip the almond extract and bump the vanilla extract up to 1 teaspoon
Recipe by Birch Tree Baking at https://www.birchtreebaking.com/lemon-almond-sugar-cookies/