Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies -- A Batch for Week 537

Ten years of the blog. The number arrived this week — week 537 from the first post in March 2016 — and I marked it with a post about Helen's oatmeal cookies, the recipe, the underlined note ("Don't overbake — Walt always overbakes"), and a reflection on ten years of writing that started because my wife signed me up and I could not say no to her. I could never say no to her. The post ran longer than my usual — five paragraphs instead of three — and ended with a line about the fact that the writing has become, over the years, the way I have stayed present in this kitchen, the way I have continued to feed myself, the way I have held the small thread of conversation with the world that the dog and the woodstove and the empty chair across from me cannot quite hold on their own.

The comments came in by the hundreds — far more than I had expected for a milestone post — and included messages from readers I have been writing to for the full ten years and from readers who had only joined in the last few months. A man in Kansas wrote in to say he had read every single post. A widow in Maine said the blog had taught her to cook for one. A young woman in Vermont wrote in to say she had grown up reading the blog because her grandmother had read it and printed posts and kept them in a folder on her kitchen counter, and that the grandmother had died last year and the granddaughter had inherited the folder and was now reading the source.

I made oatmeal cookies Sunday — Helen's recipe — and ate three with milk and sat at the kitchen table and thought about the ten years. The cookies tasted exactly as Helen's tasted. The kitchen smelled of butter and brown sugar. The woodstove was not lit because it was July, but the kitchen still felt warm in the way that a kitchen feels warm in the presence of cookies and memory and the long slow unbroken work of having stayed.

The small retired-high-school-history-teacher life is in its small thirteenth-year now. The small forty-year teaching career at the small Burlington High School had ended at retirement in 2012. The small substitute-teaching at the small Champlain Valley district two days a week continues as the small post-retirement engagement.

Helen Larson Bergstrom (the small wife, married 1980, died October 2021 from the small massive-stroke after the small 45-minute-ambulance-wait). The small forty-one-year-marriage had ended in the small sudden-loss. The small five-year-widower-life is the small ongoing-condition. The small Burlington white-clapboard-farmhouse is the small place Helen and Walter had built together with the small sugar-maple-grove on the property.

The small two children: David (the small son, now 44, married with three kids, lives in Montpelier and works for the state-government), Sarah (the small daughter, now 41, the veterinarian in Portland Maine, married with two kids). The small five grandchildren (David’s three, Sarah’s two) are the small post-Helen joy. The small grandchildren call him Grampy.

The small Vietnam-veteran-status is the small lifelong-condition. The small 1972 deployment as a small drafted Army soldier with the small 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi northwest of Saigon for eleven months. The small post-Vietnam-PTSD has been the small lifelong-management. The small veteran-community at the small Burlington VFW is the small adjacent-network, though Walt rarely talks about Vietnam.

The small New England-cooking-tradition is the small kitchen-identity. The small maple syrup is the small Vermont-staple ingredient. The small apple-cider-everything in the fall. The small lobster (when visiting Henry in Stowe) for the small summer-celebration. The small Yankee-pot-roast for the small Sunday-staple.

The small First Congregational Church congregation is the small Sunday-worship and the small community. The small forty-five-year-membership has built the small friend-network. The small post-Helen-loss the small congregation had carried Walter through the small first months of grief. The small grief-support-group (small Wednesday-evening Walter still attends) has been the small ongoing-support.

Helen’s oatmeal cookies are hers and will stay hers, written in her hand on the index card I keep in the tin by the window. But after a week like this one — the comments, the man in Kansas, the granddaughter in Vermont with the folder — I wanted to bake something new, something that felt like ten years forward rather than only backward. These lemon cookies are bright and simple and soft, and they smell, when they come out of the oven, like a kitchen that is still in use. That felt exactly right.

Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 11 min | Total Time: 26 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 large lemon)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional, for stronger lemon flavor)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar for rolling in a small shallow bowl.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and powdered sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Add the wet ingredients. Add the egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and lemon extract (if using). Beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 1 minute.
5. Combine. Reduce the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until no flour streaks remain. Do not overmix.
6. Scoop and roll. Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons), portion the dough into balls. Roll each ball in the reserved granulated sugar until evenly coated, then place on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the tops appear slightly underdone. The centers will look soft — that is correct. Do not overbake.
8. Cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They will firm up as they cool and become perfectly soft and chewy.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 148 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 95mg