Lemon & Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
Buttery and citrusy, these shortbread cookies taste fresh and have the added crunch from the walnuts and white chocolate to give it a real biscuit snap. Yields 40-50 cookies depending on shape/size
Servings
40-50cookies
Cook Time
25-30minutes
Servings
40-50cookies
Cook Time
25-30minutes
Ingredients
Lemon & Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
Candied Lemon Peel
Lemon Drizzle
Instructions
Candied Lemon Peel
  1. Using a vegetable peeler, strip away the peel of the lemons. Make sure to be careful not to get the pith–it will make the candied peel bitter. Take a knife and cut the peeled lemon bits into strips.
  2. Place the peeled lemon rinds into a pot and cover with water. Bring the pan to a boil and drain. Repeat this step. This will help take some of the bitterness out of the peels.
  3. In a medium pan, mix together the water and sugar and heat until the sugar dissolves. Add in the lemon peel and simmer uncovered on medium-low until the peels become translucent. Once you’re happy with the way they look, drain and leave the peels on a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle the additional 2-3 Tbsp sugar over them, making sure they’re covered, and leave them to cool. Once cool, cut into small pieces.
Lemon & Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
  1. n the bowl of a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or by hand, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy–about 3-5 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated. Whisk together the flour, ground cardamom, and ground ginger, then add in the flour 1/2 at a time until the dough begins to come together. Mix in the candied lemon peel, white chocolate chips, and walnuts until fully combined. The dough shouldn’t be too crumbly and should be easy to split in half.
  2. Split the dough in half. Form the dough into a flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate both discs for an hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper.
  4. Roll your dough out until it is just under 1/2″ thick (the white chocolate chips will usually stop you from going much thinner). Cut into whatever shape you’d like and place the cutouts on the lined baking sheet. With a fork, poke a few holes into the cookies to dock them.
  5. Bake 25-30 minutes until the bottom edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the shortbread to the cooling rack.
Lemon Drizzle
  1. Once the cookies are cool, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar and the juice of two lemons until smooth. Drizzle over the shortbread and leave them to set.
Recipe Notes

If possible, try to find lemons that are organic or a bit more dull in appearance. Some lemons have a fake wax coating on the outside that you don’t really want to eat. I’ve used these to make candied peel before, but it involves a lot of scrubbing with a sponge to get that outer coating off. It’s doable, but there are always lemons out there that don’t have this wax layer. Trust me, you’ll be able to tell which ones are waxy and which aren’t!

If for any reason you need more drizzle, I tend to use the juice of 1 lemon per 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to get my preferred consistency and flavor. You can always add more of either depending on your personal preference on thickness and sweetness.

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