Cherry Blossom Lemon Spritz cookies, Baking for Japan

"Small acts when multiplied by millions of people can transform the world"- Howard Zinn via bakesaleforjapan.com

I love these lemon spritz cookies which are buttery, crunchy and delicious and so pretty! I first baked these for my good friend and awesome baker Ria when she visited me a while ago. Since then I have baked these quite often especially when I have a lot of egg yolks left over from baking macarons. They remind me of the cookies we used to get from the small bakeries in my hometown, where they would be piled high in glass jars and were so buttery they left imprints on the paper bags we brought them home in. 

They are really quite simple to make, but you need a spritz cookie gun ( which thanks to my baking equipment obsession  and a clearance sale at Marshall's I happen to own)  to make them into these cute flower shapes, or you can also use a piping bag (or hey, snip the end of a zip lock bag) to pipe the dough into little rosettes or circles. 

I think they would be perfect to bake again for a bake sale I'm hoping to attend this Saturday, where the proceeds will go towards the Japanese earthquake relief. I will be going to the one in San Jose, though it is happening in many other cities too. Do click on the button below to go to their site for details, to volunteer or donate.

I am really hoping to participate, and also meet fellow bloggers like the lovely Vijitha ( who let me know about this event- Thanks Vijitha!) and Sneha ( who is a wonderful member of our Kerala Kitchen), as well as other foodies, and gorge on some yummy baked goods :) hope to see you there! I really want to bake something for vegans and those who have dairy, egg or gluten allergies, so if you have a favourite recipe, do share them in your comments.

Cherry Blossom Lemon Spritz Cookies

Recipe source: Adapted from Cannelle et Vanille from here

Ingredients:

110 grams butter, room temperature

90 grams sugar

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp lemon oil/extract

Zest of 1 lemon

180 grams flour

2 grams salt

a few drops of red food colouring ( optional-for the marbelled effect) 

Method:

Mix the lemon zest into the sugar, rubbing well so that it becomes fragrant with the lemon oils from the zest.

Cream the butter, sugar with the lemon zest and lemon oil together until well combined with an electric beater. Add the yolks and mix until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed, just until the flour disappears into the dough.

Place the soft dough into a spritz cookie gun or a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Punch or pipe rosettes onto a sheetpan lined with parchment paper.

If you want the marbelled effect like I made in these cherry blossom cookies, mix half or one fourth of the dough with food coloring or some jam and then fill the cookie gun with parts of plain dough and parts of the coloured dough.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden.

If you want you can sandwich them by filling them with lemon curd, nutella, chocolate ganache, cream cheese or even jam, though I think they are perfectly delicious on their own.

Check out some of my other favourite cookies here