LEMON POPPY SEED COOKIES

I had a craving for a lemon poppy seed cookie for over a week until I decided that it was time to make some. These cookies are nostalgic for me and bring back childhood memories. 

This recipe is not paleo or gluten free and includes flour, sugar and canola oil. I didn't think it was a kind of cookie to use coconut oil, virgin olive oil or avocado oil which was what I had in the house. I ended up buying a small bottle of canola oil to make these cookies. 

I had this recipe handwritten on an index card in a small recipe box along with other older recipe cards. A treasure of recipes written on index cards before the time of sharing recipes via email or links to blog sites.

The cookies were thoroughly enjoyed, my craving was fulfilled and I froze a number of them. 

A dough whisk I like to use to mix batter. This is a smaller one; there is also a larger size.

Small scoops of dough gently flattened before baking.

Cooling on the cookie sheet before transferring  them to a cooling rack.

Sampling has started.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil (vegetable oil)
3 eggs
juice and zest from one lemon 

4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup poppy seeds


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix the sugar and oil. I like to mix the oil and sugar using a strong whisk and to make sure that the sugar is well blended into the oil. Add the eggs, lemon juice and zest. Mix together using the whisk or a strong mixing spoon. Mix it until well blended and it looks creamy.

Using another medium bowl, mix together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt.  

Fold the flour into the wet mixture and mix well.

Using a small cookie scooper, place each scoop on the parchment paper and gently press down using a small spatula. You don't want to completely flatten the cookie. It needs to have some thickness and not be paper thin.  Leave about an inch between each cookie. They don't spread but rise a little bit.

Bake for 13 - 15 minutes until they are lightly browned. You may need to bake them a bit longer depending on the heat of your oven. You don't want them to be overly browned so that they are still soft in the middle. A small dough scoop will make about 68 cookies.