Lemon Cornmeal cookies with lemon glaze, optionally topped with freeze dried raspberries and sandwiched with raspberry jam for an updated take on the classic German Zitronen Ringe.
Lemon Cornmeal cookies with freeze dried raspberries!
These cookies are incredibly simple and delicious! The lemon and raspberry are the perfect pairing and the cornmeal in the dough gives them a yummy texture. I love using freeze dried raspberries on top for the pop of color as well as the texture – and they don’t go bad so no need to refrigerate! Traditionally they are made with just the lemon glaze which is also delicious!
Why are my cookies dry and hard?
Usually this is a result of over baking the cookies. These don’t change color much but rather the surface will look dry when they are finished baking – therefore it’s important not to look for a golden brown color change to indicate baking time.
What can I use instead of Freeze Dried Raspberries?
Freeze dried raspberries can be difficult to find. I get mine at Whole Foods from the brand Nature’s All, here is a link to their freeze dried blueberries . However, if you can’t find them, you can leave them off (I promise they’ll still be delicious), or use freeze dried strawberries which tend to be more common.
Tips for making Raspberry Zitronen Ringe
- Don’t over mix the dough. Once the dry ingredients are no longer visible, stop mixing, otherwise the cookies will become tough.
- You can use almost anything to cut out the cookies, here I used the lid of a mason jar (a little bigger than my ideal size) and a cannoli mold to cut out the inside circle.
- I recommend cutting out the inner circle once you have transferred the cookie to the lined baking sheet, otherwise the cookies will very easily lose their shape.
- After rolling the dough out once, gently press it back together, wrap it up again, and chill for at least 30 minutes before re-rolling it out.
- Do not thin out the icing too much, if you do the icing will run off cookies. If the icing becomes too thin, just add more powdered sugar until it reaches the right consistency.
- This recipe can be doubled but I recommend chilling the dough into two portions.
Ingredients for Lemon Cornmeal cookies
- All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for these! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
- Baking Powder: There is only one teaspoon of baking powder in these cookies because they are not meant to rise much but this helps to give them a little puff.
- Yellow Cornmeal: This is an unusual ingredient for most cookies but it adds so much depth and texture to the cookies.
- Butter: Softened butter is the main source of fat in these cookies.
- Sugar: There is granulated sugar in the dough of the cookies and powdered sugar in the icing.
- Egg: There is one whole egg and one egg yolk that add richness and act as a binder for the cookies.
- Lemons: This recipe uses the zest of 2 lemons in the dough to give a strong lemon flavor and the juice of 1-2 lemons for the icing decoration.
- Freeze dried raspberries: Freeze dried raspberries add the perfect pop of color and flavor on top of the cookies! If you can’t find them in your local store – order from the link above.
- Raspberry Jam: This is optional but it is what is used if you want to make these into sandwich cookies.
How to make easy Zitronen Ringe at home?
Make the Lemon Cornmeal Cookie Dough
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder until fully combined.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Then add in the sugar and lemon zest and whisk together. Finally, add in the egg and yolk and use a mixer to combine.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until fully combined and no dry bits remain.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Shaping & Baking the Zitronen Ringe
- On a floured surface, roll the cookie dough out until it is 1/4″ thick.
- Using a 2 1/4″ round cutter, cut out as many cookies as will fit. Using a smaller ~ 1/2″ round cutter, cut out the center of each of the cookies. If you plan to make them into sandwich cookies with raspberry jam, only cut the centers out of half of them.
- Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies onto lined baking sheets – leaving about 1/2″ space between the cookies.
- Bake the cookies at 350 F for 10 minutes.
- Let the zitronen ringe cool completely before icing them.
Icing & Decorating
- To make the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice – slowly add in the lemon juice as you may not need it all – until a thick consistency is created it should be about the thickness of a thick peanut butter.
- Do not thin the icing out too much because it will run off the sides of the cookies.
- Crush the freeze dried raspberries into smaller bits and place in a small bowl.
- To decorate, dip the cookie face side down into the icing and twist around to make sure it is fully coated. Pull the cookie up and shake it back and forth/ side to side to get rid of any extra icing.
- Immediately after each cookie, add the raspberries on top. It is important to add the raspberries right after icing each lemon cornmeal cookie because the icing will start to set quickly.
- If you are making these into sandwich cookies, after the icing has dried, add 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam to each of the base cookies and sandwich with one of the iced cookies!
Raspberry Zitronen Ringe
Lemon Cornmeal cookies with lemon glaze and freeze dried raspberries – an updated take on the classic German Zitronen Ringe.
Servings: 16 sandwich cookies
Calories: 207kcal
Equipment
- round cookie cutter
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 150 grams ap flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 80 grams yellow cornmeal
- 100 grams butter melted
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 lemons zested
For Decorating *Double this if not sandwiching
- 180 grams powdered sugar
- 1 juice of a lemon
- 8 grams freeze dried raspberries
For Sandwiching
- 6 oz raspberry jam
Instructions
Making the cookies
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and cornmeal in a small bowl
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Then whisk in the granulated sugar, followed by the egg, egg yolks and lemon zest.
- Pour the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredients and use a mixer to combine.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and flatten into a round about 1" thick and place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- After the dough has chilled, roll it out gently on a floured surface until about 1/4" thick.
- Cut out the cookies with a 2 1/4" (can be a little smaller or larger) round cutter and cut out the centers with a smaller round cutter – about 1/2". If you want to make sandwich cookies, only cut the centers out of half of the cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 min, rotate after 7 min to brown evenly.
- After the cookies are finished baking, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a different cooling rack and leave them to cool completely.
Finishing Touches
- Add the powdered sugar into a medium bowl, then slowly pour in the juice of one lemon and whisk to combine.
- Getting the consistency of this glaze is important, it should retain the lines of the whisk for a few seconds. This way it will stay on the cookies and not run off the edges too much.
- Crush the freeze dried raspberries by hand into small pieces and place in a bowl.
- To ice the cookies, turn the cookies, with the centers cut out, upside down and dip in the glaze, while holding onto the cookie in the glaze, turn the cookie left and right to make sure it is evenly coated. Then lift the cookie out of the glaze and shake it back and forth to get rid of the extra glaze. *If making sandwich cookies, only glaze the cookies with the centers cut out.
- Then place the cookie, glaze side up on the cooling rack and sprinkle with the freeze dried raspberry pieces or dip into the freeze dried raspberries.
- Leave the glazed cookies to set fully for at least 2-3 hours.
- If you plan to sandwich the cookies, take one cookie without the center cut out and top it with 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam. Then take one of the glazed cookies with the center cut out and place on top of the jam. Press down on the glazed cookie gently until the jam has spread evenly to the edge of the cookies.
Notes
Do not skip the chilling step! If you do the dough will be impossible to roll out – it will still be soft after chilling but it will hold together and if handled gently, keep its shape.
These will last about 5 days in an airtight container! If you sandwich them with raspberry jam, they will soften slightly but I like them like that.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie sandwich | Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
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