Basil Cookies With Lemon-Lime
My garden is sunny and glorious with basil, aromatic and colorful. Besides making bruscheta, try these delicious basil cookies, with a zesty lemon-lime spark. Your morning coffee will thank you.
Fair Warning: I shared these with a friend this afternoon. He bit into the cookie readily. Then I thought he looked perplexed. It is indeed an unusual blend of strong lemon and the savory aromatic basil. To me, it’s a delicious sour-sweet-rich-buttery-savory-basil cookie. Not usual, perhaps odd, but I really like them.
Basil is native to Asia and in Spanish the word is Albahaca, an Arab word that arrives in Texas via the Spanish. Because Spain was an Arab territory for over 700 years, there are over 4,000 Arab words in the Spanish language. Similar to many Arab words that begin with “al” (meaning “the”) albahaca is from “habaqa” which is the term used for aromatic herbs used in medicine and cooking. One scholar of the sixteenth century, Diego de Urrea, explains that “habaqa” comes from the word “veheca” which means to penetrate the mind with soft aroma. I love the cookies.
You be the judge! Lemme know?
Basil Cookies Recipe
Ingredients (Makes 18 cookies)
Recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar plus more for pressing cookies
½ cup (1stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 tablespoons sliced fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon finely grated lime zest
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Sanding sugar (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 375.
1. Place flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, butter, basil, both zests, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until large, moist clumps form.
2. Measure level tablespoonfuls of dough; roll between your palms to form balls.
3. Place on a large baking sheet, spacing 2″ apart. Lightly dust the bottom of a flat measuring cup with powdered sugar and press cookies
into 2″ rounds, dusting cup bottom with powdered sugar as needed to prevent sticking. Sprinkle tops of cookies with sanding sugar, if using.
4. Bake until edges are brown, about 14-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.
Love these! Made them this afternoon – love that they are not too sweet, very zesty, and then there is this nice herbal note from the basil. Love also a simple recipe – I would bake more often if all recipes came together this quickly.