Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

I surprised hubby last night with these cute little lemon poppy seed cookies!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Last week in New York, he got a piece of lemon poppy seed pound cake (yum!) and it was at that point that expressed his LOVE for lemon poppy seed muffins and such. :) I really like it when he expresses 'love' for something because it gives me a chance to surprise him later....enter BEST WIFE IN THE WORLD! haha I'm kidding- kind of.

I thought with Easter just around the corner, I would give you something sweet for the grown up's to eat while the kids are egg hunting!

They kind of look like eggs on these little twigs. These are so deliciously lemony and lightly sweet, go ahead and have one before dinner - you won't spoil your appetite! :) I halved Martha Stewart's recipe since there are only two of us, then adapted it. This made 18 small cookies.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

1 Lemon, juice and zest

1 stick of butter, unsalted, divided in half

1 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 C sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten, then halved

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small sauce pot, bring lemon juice to a simmer, then add 1/2 of the butter. Stir until melted, then remove from heat. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix the sugar and remaining 1/2 stick of butter together. Crack egg into a small bowl and lightly beat; add 1/2 to sugar mix. Mix in lemon butter. Stir everything to combine, until pale yellow. Mix in the vanilla and most of the lemon zest (reserve a little for the tops of the cookies). Mix in the flour mixture and poppy seeds. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Roll dough into 18 balls and place on baking sheet. Top with remaining lemon zest and poppy seeds. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just browned. Cool on wire rack and store in airtight container. 

This dough was really sticky for some reason, but it did rain ALL day yesterday, so that may have had something to do with it. Regardless, make sure you refrigerate it before trying to put it on the baking sheet. 

What's your favorite Easter dessert?