I haven't met many cookies that taste better than their cookie dough, but this is the case with Lemon Icebox Cookies. I decided to try them because I had lemon zest left over from making Cherry Tomato-Lemon Salad.

This recipe calls for only egg yolk, so I tried this lowfat brownie recipe because it calls for egg whites.

Also, a word of warning - follow the directions carefully. I accidentally added the lemon juice to the dry ingredients and it reacted with the baking soda. The resulting dough was a little dry, but I think it would've been fine if I'd added the lemon juice and zest to the wet ingredients like I was supposed to.

Lemon Icebox Cookies
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 lemons
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. From lemons, grate 1 tablespoon peel and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice.

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and lemon peel and juice until combined. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture just until blended.

Divide dough in half. On waxed paper, form one piece of dough into 12-inch log. Repeat with remaining dough. Wrap each log and refrigerate overnight, or freeze until very firm, at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour two large cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper or foil. Cut one log crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake until set and golden grown around edges, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through baking. With wide spatula, tranfer cookie to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 96 cookies.

The cookbook suggests having this dough on hand in the freezer to ease those gotta-have-cookies-quick moments. You can also change the recipes by beating 2 teaspoons anise seeds into the dough with lemon peel, by substituting orange zest and fresh orange juice in the same amounts as lemon or adding a cup of finely chopped walnuts to the dough after you add the flour.

The recipe is from my "The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book."

Photo is from marthastewart.com.

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