Citrus Cornmeal Crisps

Dear Devon,

A large bowl of lemons was left on my desk at work (props from a recent exhibition). This brings about the old joke: what do you do when the world gives you lemons? Ask any foodie and lemonade probably won't be the only answer. I wanted something besides lemon meringue pie and lemon scented roast chicken. In the Joy of Cooking, I found a master recipe for butter cookies and fourteen variations, including this recipe for Cornmeal Citrus Cookies.

I wanted to highlight the crisp, bold taste of fresh lemon. Basically, I wanted the cookies to have the character of a lemon pie. To achieve this, I increased the amount of zest ten fold, adding the entire zest of one lemon. Next, I worked the zest into the sugar, releasing the ultra fragrant lemon oils. It seems a shame to throw out the lemon peel, especially when it contains great flavor. I love the intensity and bright color of lemon zest and try to incorporate zest into my cooking and baking as much as possible.


The recipe called for vanilla extract, but I used a fresh vanilla bean. The tiny black seeds of the vanilla look nice against the pale yellow of the cookie. Nothing beats fresh vanilla beans. Super fragrant, the beans can be expensive and are quite fragile, but are definitely worth it. I store mine in ziploc bags in the dark corner of my pantry. I've also found a great website that sells high quality beans at affordable prices. Beans can be purchased individually or in packs of 10 up to 1,000. I find that a 10 pack lasts me about a year. I keep used beans in a jar with sugar for vanilla sugar at any time. It's another great staple to have in your pantry.


At first, I objected to the grittiness of the cornmeal, but have since been won over by the effect. I expected more of a shortbread-type cookie but instead got a crunchier, almost cracker-like cookie. The flavor of lemon pervades the entire cookie and pairs nicely with the coarseness of the cornmeal. I used a fluted round cookie cutter to give the cookies a rustic look.

The dough can get a bit difficult to work with once it has been rolled out too many times. I advise rolling out the dough twice, which will make about 60 - 65 cookies at 2 1/2-inches in diameter. I gathered the scraps and flattened them into a rough square, which I baked along with the cookies. I intended to use the scraps as a crust for a simple fruit dessert. My plan was to smear the baked cookie with jam and top it with fresh berries. However, the cookie was too sweet when topped with jam. Instead, I broke it into pieces making rough shards and stuck them into a large bowl of ice cream.


Cornmeal Lemon Crisps
adapted from The Joy of Cooking
makes 60 cookies

1 lemon, zested
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg, whole
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) butter, softened

Let butter come to room temperature, maybe an hour's wait. Meanwhile, zest one lemon. Mix lemon zest with sugar. Crush the zest into the sugar to release the oils onto the sugar. Measure out corn meal and flour, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat softened butter and lemon sugar together, until fluffy and pale yellow. Add in egg yolk and egg, beating thoroughly after each addition. Periodically scrape down the sides. Slice vanilla bean down the center. Using the back of a knife, scrape the bean to remove the tiny black seeds. Add vanilla seeds to the butter mix. Beat in cornmeal, flour, and salt. A wet dough should form. Gather into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to one day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or wax paper.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Halve dough. Refrigerating the second half. With a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. If the dough begins to tear, return to the fridge. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough. A flat spatula can be helpful to transport cut cookies onto a baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way through baking. Cookies should be golden brown but still soft. They crisp up when cooled. Remove to a cooking rack. Allow the baking sheet to cool before filling with cookies. Repeat with the reserved second half of dough.