Lemon Raspberry Sugar Cookies

I love these cookies. With or without icing, they are simple and delicious.

In a large bowl, start by sifting together your flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, with the help of a hand mixer, mix together your softened butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Blend until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix until you have a light creamy texture (1-2 minutes).

With the help of a rubber spatula, fold in the lemon rind. When you have your dough mixture, in a small saucepan, heat up your raspberries and 1 tablespoon of sugar on medium heat. Heat and stir until the raspberries soften. With the help of the back of a spoon press the raspberries down to extract the juice and turn the raspberries into pulp.

Remove the raspberry mixture from the heat and let cool for approximately 5 minutes. Next, over a small bowl, use a wire sieve to extract the juice from the pulp and seeds. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of raspberry syrup over the prepared dough.

Use your hands to kneed the juice into the dough. I like to only incorporate it lightly, leaving streaks throughout. You can also incorporate it entirely if you wish, which will leave you with a dough that is lightly tinted.

Wrap your dough in cling wrap and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 45 minutes. You can also leave it overnight if you are making this dough ahead of time. You want the dough to be cooled and to have a more solid form before rolling it out to make your cookies.

When the dough has cooled and is ready to be worked with. Roll it out with a rolling pin on a well floured work surface. Keep the dough 4-5mm thick and stamp out your desired shapes with cookie cutters. Any leftover dough can be kneeded together and rolled out again. Just keep in mind that the more you roll and kneed, the more the raspberry will blend and get incorporated into the rest of the dough. Continue until you have no more dough left.

Preheat your oven to 325F.

Place your cut out cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Let cool on a wire baking rack. These cookies can now be enjoyed as is or you can decorate them with royal icing if you so desire.

Make sure that the cookies are completely cool before doing so, or the icing will melt and run.

To make the royal icing, whisk together the icing sugar, meringue powder and water until you have a thick runny consistency. You want it thick enough that it will hold it's shape but runny enough to push through a piping bag without too much effort. Once you have the proper consistency, you can add food coloring. Mix until you have a smooth glossy icing.

To make the hearts, I first outlined a thin line of the icing around the perimeter of the cookie (like a frame that will hold the rest of the icing). Then I filled the heart in. Use a toothpick or needle to blend in any bubbles or bumps that might appear. To make the smaller heart pattern, I made little polka dots in a contrasting color and used a toothpick to pull the icing through the center of the circle which makes it into a whispy heart shape.

Have fun with decorating. There are loads of tutorials online if you want to get inspired.

Once decorated, let the icing dry for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.

Hope you enjoy making these cookies as much as I do!