I’m a bit of a sucker for kitchen gadgets and kitchen tools. Some would say that all you need is a good saucepan and a good knife, but I like my kitchen stuff. One of my favourite kitchen things is a microwave steamer for steaming vegetables in. I love this thing so much that when we bought a new microwave, I made sure that the steamer fit first! (Yes, yes, I know that you can steam vegetables on top of the stove but with this I don’t need to drag out a pot and pan and take up a hob – plus it takes four minutes in the microwave.)
Last weekend I was keen to make cookies (or biscuits if you prefer) and I wanted to use my cookie press, just one of my many kitchen gadgets. When I was looking up cookie recipes online, I decided that I wanted to do something with lemon and poppy seeds. After some searching, I found a simple recipe for cookie press cookies that I was able to adapt.
They were pretty easy to put together but it did take me a while to get all the cookies pressed out and baked..... because I ended up with about 80 of the little buggers! I tried out several different shapes - the hearts tended to lose their shape but I found that the flower shapes faired better.
But presentation isn't as important as taste, and the verdict? They were awesome! The cookies were buttery and crisp, but kind of melted in the mouth. They had just the right amount of sweetness, were rather lemony, and the poppy seed added a bit of savouriness. Oh my, they were moreish. I found it really, really difficult to eat only one... One day I came home after work and found myself eating six in a row. Gulp! Cookies are a sometime food, people.
Note – if you don’t have a cookie press, I think it would work if you rolled the dough into small balls and flattened them. But if you love kitchen stuff like me, you might have a cookie press too?!
Lemon and poppy seed cookies
Adapted from this recipe.
Makes about 80 small cookies
225 grams butter, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Finely grated rind of a lemon
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour, sifted
Preheat your oven to 200°C.
Cream the butter until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until well combined. Mix in the egg, vanilla essence, lemon rind, poppy seeds and salt. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Fill a cookie press and shape on to an ungreased cookie sheet. If you don't have a cookie press, roll the dough into small balls and flatten with a fork or your hand.
Bake until golden brown - my cookies were small so I baked them for six minutes. If you have larger cookies, bake them for longer.
Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
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