I promised you all that I would try something more difficult this time. Well, I did.

Those look like mini donuts (or if you’re cool – abbreviated as “dones”), but I trick you not, my friends. Those are cookies! Pretty cookies.

This recipe is the most difficult so far. Making rings and dipping in glaze and nonpareils? That’s stressful.
Thankfully, my sister was around to assist on this one. Here she is zesting lemons for me. How nice.

Ignore the crap on my craft table. Only pay attention to the equipment/ingredients necessary for this recipe. Thx.

Having Brittany around was nice because she could take pictures while I worked, but that also meant I ended up with 79 photos. Ha! I’ll try to only choose the best ones.

Step 1: Gather ingredients: Flour, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, coarse salt, and a shit ton of lemons.

Step 2: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Easy. I’m a pro.

Step 3: Pulse sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until combined. 

Okay, stop. I do not own a food processor. It’s not like I was turning nuts into a paste or anything, so I used the blender.

You may recognize this as my frustrated face. The blender would mix the middle and the rest would stay on the outside. I had to shake the thing 30 times.

BUT IT WORKED!

Step 4: Beat sugar-zest mixture and butter until pale and fluffy

I think the mixer needs a name. I’ll ask Dustin if I can name it.

Step 5: Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.

Are you ready for this? I almost threw up when I saw how gross this looks:

That does not look right. In any way. Maybe when I add the flour it will fix itself.

Step 6: Add vanilla and 1 tbsp lemon juice. 

If you’ve ever met my sister, you know she’s obsessed with her nails. I think she changes her nail polish once a day (and posts pictures of it). Here she is juicing the lemons showing off her nails.

I added the juice and vanilla.

Step 7: Gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.

THANK XENU it looks normal!

Brittany tried the dough and said it tasted salty. I tried it, too. Shit.

MIX MORE!

That worked. It tasted normal.

Step 8: Scoop 1 tbsp dough and roll into a 4-inch rope.

I can handle that. It’s the next step that was difficult.

Step 9: Bring ends together and press to form a ring.

Some of them look a little deformed. I was worried they wouldn’t be pretty enough. I’ll never be cute enough to star on Toddlers & Tiaras, so I really need this to work out for me!

OMG! Brittany is my first assistant to do the dishes for me!

(Gratuitous nail shot)

The first batch of cookies didn’t look as nice as I would have liked. Some of the holes almost closed up.

Step 10: Whisk powdered sugar with 7-8 tbsp lemon juice to make glaze.

MAGIC! POWDERED SUGAR IS MAGIC!

Step 11: Dip top side of cookie in glaze, let excess drip off.

Step 12: Return cookies to wire rack and sprinkle with nonpareils.

Brittany really knows her angles. She is in the running to be America’s Next Top Nail Model.

I didn’t know how to pronounce nonpareils, so I had Kristina text it to me and asked Siri to read it aloud.

She said non-par-e-ils. Google’s dictionary result said non-pa-rels.
I’d like to believe Siri, but she pronounced “turban” as “turblin” the other day.  Anybody know which is correct?

We realized quickly that we were well on our way to NOT getting 6 dozen as Martha said. We discussed making some tiny ones (imagine Cheerios), but decided against it. Instead, with the last bit of dough, we made a wreath. They’re called Lemon Wreaths for a reason.

Merry Christmas!

In the next set, I dropped one.

Oops. That one turned into a double-sized glaze surprise.

Step 13: Take a whiff of lemony delight.

Aaaand…what better way to end the post than another shot from fashion photographer Nate Celnik?

Those look good, right?!

Brittany’s review: Really, really, really lemony. And good.

Link to original recipe

Start time: 10:00
End time: 12:20 (2 hours, 20 minutes)
Martha’s Estimated Time: 2 hours

Yields: 72
I got: 54 (what’s wrong here?)

What did I learn? 

• I can handle something more difficult like this. Kinda.
• Some recipes require a lot of patience.
• I probably could have just overlapped the ends of the rope and it would have been fine. Molding it together deformed them.

What do I need to learn?

• How do you pronounce nonpareils?
• Why did I get so few? I measured with a tablespoon!

What’s next? I may bake this weekend so keep your eyes peeled!