Lemon Vanilla Drop Cookies

The Cookie Carnival has returned! This month, we are baking up cookies with a BAM! Kate chose Emeril’s Blueberry Drop Cookies.

Now, being the person that I am, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I asked Kate if I could try a different fruit, as blueberries aren’t too popular with certain family members. And I felt really silly asking her that, considering the name of the cookies are BLUEBERRY Drop Cookies. I thought about using a different fruit, but finally, I decided to add a little more lemon zest to give them a burst of flavor.

After that, only other change I made was to use butter instead of shortening. I prefer the taste of real butter, because I don’t care for the aftertaste of shortening. And in case you are wondering, yes, I can tell the difference.

These cookies are fantastic. They have lots of potential – as well as being great on their own. I am so glad Kate suggested this recipe – it’s the kind of recipe that I would have bypassed on first glance. And that’s a shame, because I will definitely make these again.

So after David tried one, he asked, “Where are the blueberries? I like blueberries!” *smack, smack*

Lemon Vanilla Drop Cookies – adapted from Emeril Lagasse

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp grated lemon zest
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest, mixing well after the addition of each ingredient. Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Cover and chill for 4 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls, one and one-half inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing them with a spatula.