Soft, crumbly, tangy and crunchy, these Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies are super easy to make and delicious to snack on all day long! Enjoy your favourite shortbread cookies with a cup of tea or as a sweet snack!
Place the soft Butter (1) and Icing Sugar in the bowl of your mixer, and cream them together using with the paddle/flat beater attachment for at least 5 minutes on medium speed. It needs to look pale, fluffy and have increased in volume.
Add the Egg Yolks one at the time, beaten well between each addition. (2)
Pour in the Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest and mix for a few seconds to combine.
Sift in the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt. Mix until the dough starts to come together, stopping to scrap the edges of the bowl if required, then add the Poppy Seeds.
Transfer the dough over a sheet of baking paper, bring it together into a ball and gently press on it to flatten it. Cover with a second sheet of baking paper and roll into the desired thickeness (3) with a rolling pin.
Place in the fridge to rest for 10 to 15 minutes (4).
Preheat the oven on 160'C/325'F.
Remove the top sheet of baking paper and use a Cookie Cutter to shape the shortbread (5). Use an offset spatula to transfer the cookies on a flat baking tray.
Optional: use a fork to create a criss-cross strips pattern
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookies, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
Notes
Make sure the butter is really soft and at room temperature, or it will be hard to mix it in with the Sugar. A tip to get the right consistency of butter is to cut it into small cubes and leave it at room temperature for about an hour (more or less depending on the temperature of the room). To check if it is soft enough, gently press on it; it should easily spread without too much resistance. Be careful if trying to use the microwave to soften it more quickly - you do not want the butter to melt at all.
If the batter seems to split after you add the yolks, it could be because the butter wasn't soft enough/too cold, because the yolks were not at room temperature or because you did not beat the butter and sugar for long enough. Don't worry though, the batter will still come together once you add the flour.
I like my shortbread really thin, so I rolled the dough to about 2/3 mm (0.1 inch). You can absolutely roll them thicker if preferred.
It is important to chill the cookies before shaping them and moving them as they will be very soft before refrigeration. You need to butter to have harden again to easily transfer the cookies over a baking sheet.
Re-roll any leftover dough/scraps between the two sheets of baking paper and refrigerate again before cutting out more cookies.