Lemon Snowdrops — A Quiet Sunday Cookie for the Last Calm Week

Early March. The COVID-19 news has started showing up on the kitchen radio in the small five-minute hourly news breaks. Mama and I have been listening to the news at five PM each evening across the past week, the way the household used to listen to the news at five PM during the Iraq War years when Mama would put the radio on the kitchen counter and turn it down low while she chopped the dinner vegetables. The news has not been good. Italy. Wuhan. The first US cases. Mama has been quiet about it. I have been quiet about it.

Sunday I made lemon snowdrops because I had been on a Carol-recipe-box rotation all winter and the lemon snowdrop card had come up next in the box. The cookies are tender lemon shortbread balls dusted twice in powdered sugar — once warm so the first dusting absorbs into the cookie, once after the cookies have cooled completely so the second dusting sits on top as a clean snowy finish.

The cookies came out of the oven at three PM. The kitchen smelled like a small lemon-cake-and-Pledge cleaner version of a bakery. Mama walked into the kitchen at three-fifteen, picked up a warm cookie, ate it standing at the counter, and said: baby, your grandmother would have been jealous. I gave four of them to Mrs. Henderson at four when I walked the four-house route up the block to her front porch with the small paper bag. Mrs. Henderson said the same thing. I gave four more to Dustin when he came over at six. He said: I had no idea cookies could melt. The kitchen was the kitchen. The radio was the radio. The week is going to be the week it is going to be.

Lemon Snowdrops

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 1 hr (includes chilling) | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus 1 cup more for rolling
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
2. Add lemon and vanilla. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Mix in dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir on low speed until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
4. Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This keeps the cookies from spreading and makes them easier to roll.
5. Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Roll into balls. Scoop the chilled dough by rounded teaspoonfuls and roll between your palms into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake. Bake for 11–13 minutes, until the bottoms are just barely golden and the tops look set but not browned. Do not overbake — these should stay pale and tender.
8. Roll in powdered sugar. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then roll each one in the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar while still warm so it adheres well. Once fully cooled, roll again for a thick, snowy coating.
9. Store. Layer in an airtight tin between sheets of parchment. These keep at room temperature for up to 5 days — perfect for making ahead of a big holiday gathering.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 98 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 18mg