Chewy Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Lemon cookies sweetened with the smoothness of white chocolate chips. Perfect for spring gatherings and teas.

Name: Chewy Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 5
Ingredients: 2-3/4 c. flour; 1 tsp. baking soda; 1/2 tsp. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 c. butter, softened; 1-1/4 c. sugar; 1/4 c. lemon juice; 1/2 tsp. lemon extract; zest from 1 lemon; 1 egg; 1 c. white chocolate chips

Chewy Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spring is officially here! Time to break out the pastels and sandals … but bring along the spring flavors too!

While I love baking and cooking with berries in the spring, I also love experimenting with the citrus family’s fun flavor palette. I especially love lemon and was needing a springy treat for a tea, and had a bar of Ghirardelli white chocolate burning a hole in my pantry; with that, Chewy Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies became more than just a fun idea.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I just love using my Microplane zester for recipes like this. It’s great for grating cheeses like Parmesan but works especially well for zesting citrus. And while I ordinarily wouldn’t have used a bar of white chocolate as “chips” in a recipe, chips were the only ingredient I didn’t have on hand … and chunks added more personality to these tangy treats anyway. 😉

My kitchen smelled amazing when I pulled these little lemony disks from the oven. I prefer chewy cookies over crunchy ones and these did not disappoint. They were firm enough to not crumble while biting into them but moist enough to not immediately require a glass of milk to wash the crumbs down. But you can still enjoy a cold glass of milk alongside these if you’d like since after all, what cookie doesn’t pair perfectly with milk?!

I baked these while an out-of-town family was visiting and had a hard time keeping enough available for my pictures. My little ones, with the help of their older cousin, kept raiding the cookie booty; by day’s end two-thirds of these were devoured! If that doesn’t attest to their yumminess, nothing will. 😉

Chewy Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from the Calgary Herald, November 18, 2014; "Pucker" cookbook, Gwendolyn Richards.

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

2-3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter, softened
1-1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
zest from 1 lemon
1 egg
1 c. white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the zest until well combined.
On medium speed, add the egg, then the lemon juice and lemon extract, and beat until mixed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Fold in white chocolate chips with a wooden spoon or spatula
Use a spoon to scoop out 1" balls of dough and roll them into small balls.
Place the balls about 2" apart on the cookie sheet and bake until the edges are cooked but the tops are still puffy (about 9–11 minutes). The cookies will be slightly golden around the edges but look ever-so-slightly underbaked on top.
Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, until the tops have fallen and crinkled; transfer to cooling rack.
Store in air-tight container.