Meatless Monday: Christmas Cookies!

By now, you should know I love to bake cookies, I think...!

Well, today is an especially momentous cookie baking occasion because, you see, I FINALLY found a sugar cookie recipe that was just right, and the dough was perfect for making shapes with!!! I have had so much trouble in the past trying to make cute cookie cutter shapes from cookie dough; it was always too wet, too soft, didn't taste good, or the cookies didn't bake right and lost their form in the oven. But, FINALLY. Finally. I have found it! And I am so excited to share this marvelous lemon sugar cookie recipe with you! But, I must not take all the credit- this recipe is largely adapted from this little gem from myrecipes.com.

Lemony Sugar Cookies
(makes around 30 cookies depending on cutter(s) used)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt 
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat together butter and sugar until well combined. Next, add in the egg, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, and vanilla until nice and creamy. Bit by bit, beat in the flour mixture until dough is formed. Flatten dough into disc onto a plate like in the picture below, cover with plastic wrap, then cool in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
 

When dough is ready, take half of it and roll out onto floured surface to about 3/8" thick. Cut out desired shapes then place onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet(s). Decorate with sprinkles if desired, then pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool before enjoying!

I have not been able to stop eating these tasty treats since making them earlier this afternoon! Lily quite fancies them as well. I normally make a healthier version of sweet cookies like these by using whole wheat flour or less sugar or a sugar substitute, or however I am able to, but this time I kept it traditional and just make them like the recipe indicated. Afterall, it's Christmas time and I think enjoying something extra sweet is alright once in a while :)


 
These cookies will be made as gifts for friends and family this year, along with some other kind of cookie, probably my dark chocolate coconut and flax cookies; those will be the healthy option! Although, adding fresh lemon gives these cookies a boost of vitamin C, antioxidants, and can also aid in digestion.

Lily is feeling much better now, although she was quite the cranky kid this weekend! We did still manage to get some fun holiday crafts done, so check back on Wednesday for that, plus Sweet Saturday on Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by, now on to the link-up! 

Now it's your turn to share your Meatless Monday dish below! Share your turkey-alternatives or other yummy Thanksgiving favorites. No rules, other than please only link-up meat-free recipes. No other un-related links or I will remove them. Sorry to sound so harsh, but let's keep it true to what it is, ok? Link up as much as you want, and feel free to spread the word with the button below. Thanks, and have a great week! 
          

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Have a great day!