Cream Cheese Meltaways With Lemon Glaze From Cooking Light Recipes

CREAM CHEESE MELTAWAYS WITH LEMON GLAZE (FROM COOKING LIGHT)

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2. To prepare cookies, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
• 3. Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, butter, cheese, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Add flour mixture; stir until just combined (dough will be dry and crumbly). Shape dough into 36 (1 inch) balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on pans on wire racks. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
• 4. To prepare glaze combine 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar and lemon juice, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Dip tops of cookies in glaze; place on wire racks. Let cookies stand for 30 minutes or until glze is set.

CREAM CHEESE MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix all ingredients at room temperature to make a stiff dough. Roll into ball form, pressuring down to flatten with bottom of a glass. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
• 2. Note: You may add any extract to change flavor. Pecans, raisins or chocolate chips can also be added. Makes approximately 3 dozen.

GLAZED LEMON-CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Sift cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
• Combine butter, cream cheese, white sugar, and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in egg and egg yolk until incorporated. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract; mix to combine. Slowly add flour mixture until just incorporated; batter will be thick and sticky. Scoop dough with a small cookie scoop and drop 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden, about 11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
• While cookies are baking, whisk together cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest for the glaze in a small bowl until no lumps remain. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar until glaze is runny in consistency. Hold each warm cookie upside down and dip and twist in the glaze. Shake off excess glaze, and place cookie upright on a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cookies and glaze.

LEMON MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Add butter, 1 1/4 cups/154 grams confectioners' sugar, and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the sugar is moistened, then turn the mixer to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the lemon juice and egg yolk. Mix to combine.
• Reduce the speed to low, add the flour, cornstarch and salt, and mix until just combined.
• Divide the dough into 2 pieces and set each piece on a length of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Fold the paper over the sticky dough, and use your hands to form it into a cylinder about 1 1/2 inches wide. Roll the cylinder a few times to help shape it, but don't worry if it isn't perfect. Chill the dough until completely firm, at least 2 hours.
• When you are ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Slice the dough into rounds just under 1/4-inch thick and arrange them at least 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 12 to 17 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway though. The cookies should be golden around the edges, but not brown all of the way through.
• Set the pans on cooling racks and cool for a few minutes. Dust both sides of the warm cookies with the remaining 3/4 cup/92 grams confectioners' sugar. Let the cookies cool completely, then store at room temperature in an airtight container. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar just before serving, if desired.

LEMON CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium, beat together the butter and half the cream cheese until combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the granulated sugar and 4 teaspoons lemon zest until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes more. Beat in the egg until combined. Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
• Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Portion the dough into 2-tablespoon scoops and arrange them on the sheets at least 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake, rotating halfway through baking, until the cookies are puffed and set and just beginning to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks until cookies are completely cooled.
• Meanwhile, prepare the optional glaze: Whisk together the remaining cream cheese with the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth. Add additional lemon juice or milk until mixture forms the proper consistency for a glaze. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Let cookies stand at room temperature until the glaze has set. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week or in the freezer for a month.