Blueberry-Lemon Almond Cookies
These citrusy, almond-y cookies are brimming with blueberries and yield a couple dozen cookies with minimal prep, which means you can share them and still stash enough for yourself. The tender, cakelike texture of the cookies evokes pound cake or a muffin top. A tangy glaze balances the sweetness of both the blueberries and the cookie itself. Try finding frozen wild blueberries if possible as frozen berries are often sweeter than fresh. Also, their smaller size makes them easier to incorporate into the dough and leads to more even baking, plus you get more blueberries per cookie. Enjoy these cookies with a morning cup of coffee, alongside your afternoon tea or ahead of your evening nightcap.
Ingredients
- 3 cups384 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoonkosher salt (such as diamond crystal)
- ½ teaspoonbaking powder
- ¼ teaspoonbaking soda
- 1 ¼ cups250 grams granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoonsfreshly grated lemon zest (from 3 lemons)
- 1 cup226 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 largeegg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoonlemon juice
- ½ teaspoonalmond extract
- 1 ½ cups200 grams frozen blueberries (preferably wild blueberries, for their diminutive size)
- 1 cup123 grams powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon (optional)
Directions
- 1
Prepare the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest, rubbing the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the butter and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture is fluffy and smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, lemon juice and almond extract, and continue beating until fully incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
- 3
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until most of the floury bits have disappeared, scraping any extra flour from the sides of the bowl.
- 4
Add the frozen blueberries and beat just until evenly distributed. Alternatively, fold them in by hand, adding them in two batches since the dough might be too cold to fold all of them in at once.
- 5
Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 6
Using a 2-tablespoon/1-ounce cookie scoop, scoop heaping mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each portion about 2 inches apart for 13 cookies per sheet.
- 7
Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans and switching racks halfway through, until the edges are lightly golden brown and the domed centers look dry. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- 8
While the cookies cool, prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon water. The glaze should be a pourable, honey-like consistency, so add more water in ¼-teaspoon increments as needed until desired consistency is reached. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies, then freshly grate the zest of a lemon over the tops, if desired. Let the glaze set until it is no longer shiny, about 10 minutes, and enjoy. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.