Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I lost my voice over the weekend.  And I've discovered that it's really hard to parent 3 kids when you can't raise your voice a little bit.  Or a lot.  I whispered to Erik that maybe it's a good lesson for me - this whole not-raising-my-voice thing.  I have to walk to each child and make eye contact with them in order to get their attention...  no more yelling from room to room.  When things get real crazy you'll see me waving my arms or clapping, but for the most part I've just been ignoring rhetorical questions and fights that seem less-than-serious because the effort of talking is just too much.  Erik actually commented last night that he even felt the urge to be more quiet with the kids because I was so quiet...  Hmmm.

So, after a morning of running errands yesterday and having to explain in hushed tones to cashiers and other strangers that I couldn't talk, it was time for a home day.  So Silas and I tried a new cookie recipe that I pinned to my Pinterest board a little while ago.  Chocolate chip cookies are not loved by all in this house (Micah has decided he doesn't like chocolate anymore - this makes baking for everyone a challenge...), so I've been looking for some recipes that the whole family will enjoy.  Silas and I are the only ones who've taste-tested so far, but I have a feeling these cookies will be a winner.

I found the recipe on this blog, but I'll include it again here just to save you some time :)

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened (I used margarine)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used less)

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice.  In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (excluding the powdered sugar) then add to the butter mixture, stirring slowly until just combined.  Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate.  Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and then roll in powdered sugar.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes at 350 degrees. 

I was recently chatting with some girls about how to achieve perfect cookies and we agreed that one key step is to NOT over-bake them.  This recipe suggested taking the cookies out once they had a "matte" finish (no longer melty or shiny).

These were the cookies right after I took them out of the oven.  Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few more minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

And they tasted amazing!  The powdered sugar gave them just the teensiest bit of sweet crispy-ness on the outside and the lemon flavour was not too overpowering, but just the right amount.

This one is definitely a keeper for the recipe box.