#11. Lemon Polenta Cookies

This post could also be titled, "Why I Need To Invest In Quality Piping Tips." Because when you get to the part of the recipe that calls for shaping your batter into elegant corrugated swirls and discover you only have icing bags but no tips, you have to try very hard not to make your polenta cookies resemble yellow poop logs.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I found a lovely recipe for polenta cookies in my Martha Stewart cookbook,  and adapted the recipe to give them a more lemon-forward flavor. Sorry, Martha. 

I like how gritty texture and earthy taste of the cornmeal are tempered via the inclusion of some citrus. Though heavy on the butter, the light flavor of these cookies makes it dangerously easy to eat half a dozen in short order. Fortunately, these cookies freeze very well should you want to create a stopgap to prevent you from downing the whole batch.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups plain flour

• 1 cup polenta or cornmeal

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 teaspoons lemon extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, polenta, and salt until thoroughly combined.

3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until thoroughly combined. Add egg and egg yolk, mixing well. Add lemon extract.

4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients (large bowl) and combine thoroughly.

Now, what you should do:

5a. Fill piping bag fitted with star tip with batter. Dispense into lovely swirls onto your baking sheet.

What I did.

5b. Shout, "FML!" to the kitties. Spoon batter into piping bag. Cut off point so batter dispenses just in long even tubes. Dump, er, dispense batter and shape by hand into spirals and braids.

6. Bake cookies for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.