for all the moms,
your job is no joke. i mean, you've grown humans inside your bodies. and once us children are out of your bodies, you moms need to remember to feed us always.
you teach us language, and read us the same stories over and over, with enthusiasm.
you smother us with love, and don't mind if we barf on you.
and then, when we turn thirteen and suddenly turn on you, you still love us.
we're sorry for all those teenage angsty years. thank you for not punching us even when there was a small part of you that wanted to.
we really love you.
so this is for my mom, who taught me how to eat cookie dough like a champion. who patiently sat through "bug checks" every night before bed, rubbed my back, and asked me the 'best and worst' of my day.
my mom decided to jet off to europe, so she is there, and i am here.
mom, i know a beautiful house in the south of france is much more picturesque than this wobbly kitchen table i'm sitting at now...but i wish you could be here, if only for breakfast.
if there is anything my mom loves almost as much as her children, it's cookies.
so these are for my mom, who yells "I LOVE COOKIES" without fail, every time she eats a cookie.
they are lemon poppy seed cookies, with a twinge of almond and a light schmear of lemon cream cheese frosting. total mom cookies.
so mother, mom, mama darling...you are dear in my heart, today and always. even when i give you tude and make fun of you for leaving your keys all around town. you absolutely deserve to be on vacation, galavanting over europe without any humans whining at you. you best be living it up like crazy, dancing on cobblestones, drinking too much wine, eating too much cheese.
and when you get back, i will make you cookies, for breakfast.
Frosted Lemon Poppyseed Cookies
adapted from joanne and annie's eats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon zest
1 large egg
1 tsp almond extract
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 - 1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
preheat the oven to 350. line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. in a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds. set aside. rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips to release the fragrant oils in the peel and make a lovely light yellow sugar. in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. mix in the lemon zest and egg. then the almond extract. then mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
drop balls of dough onto the prepared sheets, about 2 inches apart (i rolled them a little in my hands to make them more uniform). bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are set and just beginning to brown at the edges, but not the tops. cool on the baking sheets for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool before icing.
to make frosting: beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until whipped and fluffy. add the confectioners sugar, lemon juice, and zest, and beat. taste and adjust sugar and lemon to desired taste and consistency. (i don't like frosting that is too sweet so i always start with a little sugar and keep tasting and adding a little more until it's just right)
frost and eat up.