The much anticipated Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook is here!
Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook: Favorite Everyday Recipes from Our Family Kitchen is by my friend, Maria Lichty of the popular blog,
Two Peas & Their Pod.
Maria is one of those blogging friends that I've actually had the pleasure to meet and spend time with in real life. We've been to Oregon, New York City to be on the Today Show, Austin, and THE LODGE. She loves food, she loves cookies, and she loves her family. I can relate to this girl. Ha.
The Two Peas Cookbook is even better than I expected...and y'all, I already expected it to be great. Although Maria is known as the "cookie queen" because her blog is filled with incredible cookie recipes, she and her husband make killer main dishes, sides, and the works. As I flipped through the cookbook, I must have exclaimed, "
Ooooh! I'm making that!" at least a dozen times. And, let me add that the photo of her son (bottom right) is pretty much my aesthetic.
Today, though, I'm going to share a cookie recipe from the book. (
I know, you are shocked I chose a cookie recipe.) Let's talk about Maria's Lemon Almond Cookies. They're zippy, tangy, and sweet with a little crunch from sliced almonds. When you're craving sweets with a little zing, reach for this recipe.
I have to point out this one brilliant step in the recipe. When I made recipes with citrus zest in the past, I always noticed that the zest would cling to my mixer attachment. I had to stop frequently to scrape them off and fold into the batter. In this recipe, the zest is added to the sugar first.
You work it into the sugar, creating a lemon sugar that smells fabulous AND distributes that zest evenly throughout the dough. No clinging to the attachment!
The recipe comes together quickly. Once baked and cooled, you'll dip the cookies in a lemon glaze and add sliced almonds.
I love toasted nuts, so I lightly toasted these. To be fancy, I added the almonds to one side of the cookies only. Mr. E even commented that maybe we should be eating these with afternoon tea.
Lemon-Almond Cookies with Lemon Glaze
{makes about 24, with permission from
Two Peas & Their Pod}
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
glaze:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup sliced almonds (
I toasted mine lightly in a pan)
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar with lemon zest and rub together with your fingers until fragrant and combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and extracts, mixing until smooth. Beat in the flour on low speed until the mixture comes together into a dough.
Drop the dough by the tablespoon (
I used a #40 cookies scoop, 1.5 TBSPs) onto the prepared baking sheets. Gently press down the dough with the palm of your hand.
Bake for 12 minutes, until the cookies are just set and slightly golden around the edges. Let cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Whisk the confectioner's sugar, lemon zest, and juice. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the glaze. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top. Let the cookies sit until the glaze has set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook...it gets two enthusiastic thumbs-up from me!
