I think we all know how obsessed I am with cheese now, so this week we are going back to baking. Yes I put herbs in a cookie. Yes it was amazing. No it doesn’t make them taste like dinner. I really, really love experimenting with flavour combinations I haven’t tried before and that’s part of what I find so exciting about blogging.
As well as the different flavours, there is just something so beautiful about fresh produce and how versatile it is. Lemon and thyme go together so beautifully. The thyme imparts just the right amount of flavour to be complimentary to the lemon zest, rather than give an overwhelming herby flavour. Lemon zest packs so much flavour from the beautiful oils held in the skin. Add a hint of mint and you’re left with a delicate, unusual and fun cookie!
The dough is chilled in the fridge for about 30 minutes, just to firm up enough to make it easier to roll out and cut. You can use whatever shape cookie cutter you like. I used hearts because that’s how much I love these cookies (too much?).
Once baked and cooled, these little hearts are drizzled with icing made from the juice of the lemon we zested earlier. Nothing goes to waste here. A couple of drops of peppermint extract give the icing the perfect amount of zing.
A few extra fresh thyme leaves on top give the thyme flavour another dimension. It replenishes the fresh flavour while the thyme in the dough bakes into the cookie. I hope you have fun trying these cookies, let me know all the different shapes you make!
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Lemon, Thyme and Mint Cookies
Yield: It depends on the size of the cutter you use. My cutter was approximately 10cm wide and I made 20 cookies.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
90g Butter at room temperature
280g Plain Flour
60g Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Milk*
1 Egg
1 Tbsp lemon zest (from approximately 1 lemon)
1 Tsp fresh thyme leaves
*Note on milk. You may only need 1 Tbsp depending on the environment you are in (ie. if it is more humid where you are). I needed the extra tsp as it is winter and quite dry.
Icing
6 Tbsp Icing Sugar
3 Tsp fresh lemon juice
2 drops Peppermint Extract
Extra fresh thyme leaves for decoration (optional)
Steps
1. Zest the lemon and take the thyme leaves off the stems. You should end up with about 2 tsps of thyme leaves. Reserve 1 tsp for decoration.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar and egg with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, lemon zest and 1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves so evenly distributed. Add to the butter and flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a breadcrumb like mixture.
4. Add 1 Tbsp of milk and stir. This may be enough milk for the dough to come together, but if not you can add another tsp of milk. After stirring use your hands to fully bring the dough together into a ball. Flatten it so you have a round disc, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out until approximately 1/8 inch thick. Use whatever shape cutter you like and place the cookies on a tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until just golden brown. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.
7. While the cookies are cooling, make the icing. Simply mix together the icing sugar, lemon juice and peppermint extract in a bowl. You can add more sugar/lemon juice/peppermint to taste. If you prefer a slightly thicker icing you can add more sugar. Drizzle over the cookies and sprinkle with a few fresh thyme leaves.
8. Allow the icing to harden before eating. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for about 5 days (if they last that long!).
