Winter Sunshine

I'm not a fan of January.  Its always cold and dark and usually its where my dreams of Championships for the Jets and Rangers begin to fall apart.  Much is the same this year; still cold, still depressingly dark and lets not even talk about the Jets.  But there is one loan ray of sunshine in my otherwise dreary January.  The NY Rangers, my lovely blueshirts, are not just 1st in the division but 1st in the conference and have been flirting with 1st in the NHL for quite some time.  They are playing smart, exciting hockey and King Henrik has taken his game to another level!

So as I sit bundled up in my blanket jealously watching the Giants and feeling the inevitable sense of dread that its only another couple of months until I have to suffer the pain of being a Mets fan again - I feel compelled to treat myself to a little bit of winter sunshine.  NY Rangers - thank you for helping me beat my winter blues, I raise my cookie and my cup of tea to you!

*A note about these cookies:  These are one of my absolute favorite cookies. Sweet and satisfying with a tarte lemony aftertaste, they manage to transport me to a warmer sunnier place.  The best thing about this dough is that you can leave it in its log shape in the freezer for months at a time and then slice and bake just a couple cookies at a time! Perfect for those of us whose New Year's resolutions involved not leaving tempting plates of cookies lying around the house...

Lemon Icebox Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart) 

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp lemon zest (feel free to use more if you prefer a more lemony taste - i used the zest from one whole lemon)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (Martha says 1 tsp, but like I said, I like 'em lemony)
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 250 grams) butter, cut into pieces
• 2 large egg yolks
• granulated sugar spread out on a plate or some parchment paper for rolling
• 
  
• 1. Cream the butter and confectioners sugar together until combined.  Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated evenly.
• 2. Add the flour and the salt to the butter sugar mixture.  It will be easier if you only add a little at a time.  Mix until fully combined.  This will be a thicker dough so you may need to work the last bit of flour in by hand.
• 3. Divide the dough in half and roll each half of dough into a log. Wrap the logs in cling film and freeze until firm - at least 2 hours.
• 4.  Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).   
• 5. Unwrap each log and roll it in the granulated sugar to coat.  Slice the cookies from the log 1/4 inch thick and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges, approx. 15 minutes
• 6.  Cool cookies on a wire rack and enjoy with a hot cuppa tea! 

• 
  
•    
• 
  
•