Soft and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

Easter week. I cooked for three days. The kitchen was a battlefield. Gayle sat at the table and did small tasks — shelling peas, trimming beans — while I moved between stove and oven and sink. Amber arrived Wednesday. Eli arrived Saturday. Steve, Louise, Hannah, Mark, and Ella arrived Sunday at noon.

Easter dinner: ham glazed with brown sugar and mustard; scalloped potatoes; deviled eggs; green beans almondine; rolls; three pies (pumpkin, pecan, lemon meringue); a chocolate sheet cake for good measure. Fourteen at the table. The table extended into the living room with folding chairs.

Gayle sat at the head. Dave insisted. "Ma," he called her for the first time in public — I had not heard him call her that before. He said it during the blessing. "Ma, would you start us?" Gayle looked up, startled. She said grace. Two sentences. She blessed the food and she blessed the family. She did not cry. Nobody cried. Everybody felt it. Dave has inherited his mother-in-law with the same quiet steadiness he inherits everything. He meant "Ma." He means it now.

After dinner, Eli washed dishes with me. He is 19 now, a sophomore at UNK. He said, "Mrs. Novak — Brenda — I want to ask you something." I said, "Ask." He said, "Do you think Amber and I are a good idea?" I said, "Eli. You are a very good idea. Whether you two stay together for years is up to you and her. I trust you both to be honest about it. But you are a good idea. You are good to her. I see it." He said, "Thank you." He cried a little into the soapy water. He is 19. He is not used to being told he is good by a mother figure. I noted that. He was raised by his dad alone — his mother left when he was small. I filed the information for later. He is a good boy. He is partly my boy now too. I did not say this. It was true anyway.

We had three pies on that table — pumpkin, pecan, and lemon meringue — and every last one disappeared. But the lemon meringue went first, and I noticed that. There is something about lemon in spring that people reach for without thinking, something alive and awake in it. In the days after Easter, when the house was quiet again and the folding chairs were put away and I was still thinking about Eli crying into the soapy dishwater, I made a batch of these lemon sugar cookies just for the two of us — Gayle and me. Simple things. Bright things. That is what the week called for afterward.

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

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, cream cheese, and 1 cup of granulated sugar together with a hand or stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
Add wet ingredients. Add the egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Beat until fully combined and smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
Roll in sugar. Place the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon balls, roll each ball in sugar until well coated, and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the centers still look slightly underdone. Do not overbake — they will firm up as they cool.
Cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They will be soft and chewy once fully cooled.

Nutrition (per serving)

Soft and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies — The Bright Thing at the End of an Easter Table