Makesabout 5 1/2 dozen cookies
- Active Time:35 min
- Start to Finish:1 1/2 hr
January 2008
Miss Lewis mentions buttermilk cookies, which she pairs with ice-cold lemonade, but as far as we know, she never committed a recipe to paper. When we developed one, the big debate was about texture: Soft or crisp? What you see here is the cookie of your dreams, with a tender interior and the slightest bit of crispness around the edge.
For Cookies
-
3
cups
all-purpose flour
-
1
teaspoon
grated lemon zest
-
1/2
teaspoon
baking soda
-
1/2
teaspoon
salt
-
1 1/2
sticks unsalted butter, softened
-
1 1/2
cups
granulated sugar
-
2
large eggs
-
1
teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
-
2/3
cup
well-shaken buttermilk
For Glaze
-
1 1/2
cups
confectioners sugar
-
3
tablespoons
well-shaken buttermilk
-
1/2
teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
Make cookies:
-
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter 2 large baking sheets.
-
Whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt.
-
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth.
-
Drop level tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are puffed and edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes per batch. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks.
Cooks' note: Cookies are best the day they're made but can be frozen, wrapped well, up to 1 month.