It is well-documented that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I write about it often, like it’s interesting. It’s not. lol! I only mention it because today’s Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies are for people like me. People who can’t stomach sweet without a good dose of salty. This holiday treat features buttery shortbread flecked with diced preserved lemon and poppyseeds, topped with a tangy lemon glaze and sprinkled with sumac salt and sanding sugar. Bright, salty, tangy, and sweet, these cookies have something for everybody, regardless of your sweet tooth status.
We have reached December, and I can’t quite believe it. I’ve been neck-deep in client work, which is why things have been quiet around here. But no more! I have a few holiday tricks up my sleeve, and these Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies are the first. I apologize for my absence. Hopefully, these cookies make up for it.
Making the dough for these cookies is simple and can be made up to three days in advance. This is the kind of leeway we need during the holiday season. Things kick off with a preserved lemon. Give it a fine dice and make sure you remove as many seeds as possible. To be extremely safe, you can simply remove the flesh and finely dice the rind only.
Once the lemon is taken care of, place it in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar, the vanilla caviar from one pod, and lemon zest. Mix on medium with a whisk attachment until the vanilla, lemon, and zest are thoroughly enmeshed with the sugar. To this, add some softened butter and cream the two together as you would for any cookie recipe. Add a little lemon juice and mix again.
In a separate bowl, sift in flour, cornstarch, poppyseeds, and salt. Initially, when I began testing this recipe, I omitted the salt altogether. Why? Well, preserved lemons are very salty because they’re, well, preserved in salt. But, in the end, I decided to give the dough a whisper of salt. You need the salt throughout the cookie, not just when you encounter a bit of lemon. If you’re iffy about salt in desserts, feel free to omit it. It’s a small change in the flavour profile, but in my opinion, it is an impactful one.
Swap the whisk attachment for a paddle and add the dry ingredients to the mixer. Mix on low until the dough comes together. Now, we’re going to roll the dough out into a sheet before chilling. My kitchen is far from large, so I like to split the dough into two and roll out two smaller sheets. It just makes more sense for my limited counter real estate.
Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with flour. Place the dough on top. Lay another piece of parchment paper on top and press to form the dough into a disc shape. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to anywhere from 1/2” to 1/4” thick. Fold up the sides of the parchment paper and transfer the dough to the fridge. Chill until solid. This took about 2 hours. But as I said, you can leave it for up to three days. You can also form the dough into a log and pop it in the freezer for future cookie adventures.
Cut the cookies while the dough is very cold. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on the bottom. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and leave them to cool completely. This will not take long. You can bail out at this point as well. Just keep the baked cookies sealed in an airtight container for up to three days. But let’s pretend you’re under the wire and push on to the glaze.
The glaze for these cookies is a simple, three-ingredient affair. All you need is icing sugar, a little lemon juice, and a splash of heavy cream. How thick or thin you make your glaze is up to you. You can also either pour the glaze over the cookies or dunk them. If you’re interested in pursuing the poured method, I would suggest creating a thinner glaze by adding additional cream. I opted for a thicker glaze and the dunk method.
Once you glaze a cookie, immediately sprinkle it with a mixture of sumac, salt, and coarse sugar. I like to work the sumac into the salt in a mortar and pestle before whisking in the coarse sugar. I don’t mind breaking down the salt crystals, but I want to maintain the chunkiness of the sugar. Coarse sugar really glitters, and the holidays call for the glitteriest glitter. Leave your cookies to dry completely. I found the glaze was fully set after about 2-3 hours.
And that’s all you need to know about these Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies! These make for a refreshing addition to any cookie box or as a fabulous host gift all on their own.
Hope you enjoy them!
Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Remove the caviar from the vanilla bean pod. Set the pod aside for future use.1 vanilla bean
- Pour the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. *** Add the preserved lemon, vanilla caviar, and lemon zest. Whisk until well integrated.2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 large preserved lemon, 2 tbsp lemon zest
- Swap the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment and add the butter to the sugar. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and mix until integrated.2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 cup unsalted butter
- Using a fine mesh strainer, sift the flour, cornstarch, poppyseeds, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour the flour into the butter mixture and mix until a dough forms.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1 tbsp poppyseeds, ¼ tsp salt
- Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust it with flour. Set the dough in the center and place another piece of parchment on top. Press the dough into a disc and roll it out to 1/2-1/4" thick. Fold the ends to seal and transfer the dough to the fridge. **** Chill for 2-3 hours or until firm.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set it aside.
- Unwrap the dough and cut out as many cookies as possible. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on the bottom. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- Sift the sugar into a medium-sized bowl. Add the lemon juice and a tablespoon of the cream. Whisk to combine. Adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding more cream.1 cup confectioner's sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 tbsps heavy cream**
- Dunk the cookies into the glaze and return them to the cooling rack. Be sure to place a piece of parchment paper under the rack to catch any drips. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Place the salt and sumac in a mortar and pestle. Grind the two together until well integrated. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the sanding sugar. Whisk to combine.1 tsp sumac, 1 tsp Maldon salt, 1 tsp sanding sugar
- Sprinkle the sumac sugar over the cookies while the glaze is still wet. Leave the cookies to dry for 2 hours or until the glaze is set.
