Lemon Semolina Cookies

Semolina is made from hard durham wheat. It is cooked, dried then ground. It looks and feels kind of like corn meal. It gives these cookies an interesting texture. They are soft and very lemony.

Hunter enjoys one after a spaghetti lunch.

Recipe By:

Adapted from Food.com

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

3 large lemons
½ pound unsalted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 cups semolina
1 cup all-purpose flour
To dust the cookies
½ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Using a grater, grate lemon peels, removing only the yellow part. Set aside. *See notes.

2. Squeeze juice from the lemons. Set aside.

3. Combine butter, vanilla, sugar and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat until creamy.

4. Add egg, ½ cup lemon juice and grated rind. Beat until incorporated.

5. Reserve any extra lemon juice for another use.

6. Decrease speed to slow. Add semolina and flour, beating until just incorporated.

7. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

8. Heat oven to 325°F.

9. Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon balls. Roll each ball in sugar then place on greased baking sheets.** See notes.

10. Flatten each ball to about ½ inch thick. *** See notes.

11. Bake cookies on the middle rack of an oven for about 14 minutes, or until the surface starts to crack. They will not start to brown.

12.  Remove from the oven and let cool before removing from baking sheet.

Notes:

*This finely grated citrus peel is called zest. I have a zester, specifically made for this job. It works ever so much better than a regular grater.

**I almost always use parchment baking papers but these didn’t come off the papers well at all.

*** My preferred method to do this: Butter the bottom of a drinking glass. Dip it into sugar. Gently flatten a dough ball to desired thickness. Re-dip in sugar before flattening the next ball.