Lemon Glazed Cinnamon Spice Cookies

Makes about 20 medium-to-large cookies, or 40 small cookies...

Lemon Glazed Cinnamon Spice Cookies bring back the smells, tastes, and images of the holiday season for me. This cookie packs a lot of flavors into one bite. The cookie itself is not very sweet, which allows all of the other flavors to stand out. The nutty flavor of whole wheat flour, the rich warm butter taste, cinnamon and the extra twist of allspice. A lemon glaze hits the roof of your mouth first, and as the cookie breaks up in your mouth, all of the other flavors blend with the lemon, for a truly delicious cookie experience.

Whole wheat flour is something Mãe began using later in life, as she discovered that you can usually replace regular flour with whole wheat entirely, and get the extra nutrition and depth of flavor that comes from the wheat chaff. Honestly, why would you throw the chaff away? The only thing to consider with whole wheat for cookies is the texture of the chaff. It does add a sandy texture to the cookie. If you prefer regular flour, simply swap out the whole wheat. Or tweak the ratio to your taste.

When I made these cookies as a kid, I did not use whole wheat flour. I used 100% regular King Arthur unbleached flour. And the cookies always turned out great. I also used about 30% more sugar. As a kid, I just couldn't get enough sugar. In my thirties, I've really stopped eating sweets unless they are something truly special, or a dessert that I make myself at home. Dialing down the sugar allows all of the flavors to shine. The icing is so sweet, that it really is best to have a hearty less sweet cookie to balance.

The lemon icing is a huge part of the overall flavor blend of these cookies, but you don't necessarily have to use lemon. If you don't have lemon juice, you can use water instead. Again, the lemon taste on the surface of the cookie adds dimension... Water icing isn't going to do that. One tip that Mãe always told me is to keep lemons in the house at all times. If you're not in that habit, maybe start today? You'll be amazed at the things you begin to use it for. It's really a flavor enhancer.

If you're feeling creative, you can try other tart juice extract for your icing base. I recommend pomegranate or cranberry juice. But make sure to get unsweetened 100% cranberry juice (this can be hard to find, but I'm seeing it more and more). You can get a nice reddish color for the icing with these juices, which is perfect for the holidays.

Some people like their holiday spice cookies to have a hint of molasses flavor. They may not even know that the flavor they are craving is molasses, but it is a very typical ingredient in cinnamon spice cookies. Personally I find molasses to be a bit too pungent, and a little to musty to mix well with lemon, but for those of you who like the traditional holiday cookie taste, maybe try substituting some part of the corn syrup with molasses.

One problem I run into with cookies of any kind is finding the rolling pin. For many years, my husband and I lived in Brooklyn, and we had a tiny L-shaped kitchen without much storage space. I simply couldn't afford to keep a rolling pin in any of my kitchen drawers. Everything in those drawers had to be accessible for everyday cooking. If I ever decided to make cookies, when it came time to roll out the dough, I could never find the rolling pin, which is how I learned to use a metal bottle!

Another thing I never have lying around, which every cookie recipe of my youth seemed to want us to use, is a wire rack for letting the cookies cool. Wire racks are ideal because they allow the cookie to cool without getting "damp" on the bottom. This makes for a more uniformly crunchy cookie, and it really is the recommended way to cool your cookies. But if you don't have a wire rack, don't let that discourage you. I use a cutting board and position the cookies off of the edge a bit, and rotate them.

The last thing that scares people away from making cookies is cookie cutters! When I lived in Brooklyn, I decided on a whim that I was going to bake holiday cookies, and I went to four different stores looking for cookie cutters. It was a two and a half mile walk round trip. I finally found one (and one only) cookie cutter option at the Gristedes in Brooklyn Heights. It's just not something that most stores have lying around. If you don't have cookie cutters, just use a drinking glass and make round cookies!

I've always shied away from holiday cookies because I remember them being a lot of work and a lot of specialized tools needed. Basically if you have a cylindrical water bottle or a wine bottle in the house, and a baking sheet, you're all set. Everything else you can improvise. Don't have precise measuring spoons? Just use your dinner spoons. Don't have measuring cups? Just estimate using a coffee mug. If you find yourself in the holiday spirit, there really is no reason not to make something delicious.

Dinner parties around the holidays are a great occasion to make these. People show up with bottles of wine, or holiday gifts that you hope comes with an gift receipt. Who has time or space for more junk in their home? But if you show up with these cookies, you'll bring something that is delicious, and reminds everyone of the homemade holiday cookies of childhood. And what are the holidays about if not childhood nostalgia?