This Wednesday I baked a batch of cookies for a friend of mine as a thank you gift.  I made Lemon Rosemary Butter cookies!  YUM!  I got the recipe in June when I met Kim Dolce of Dolce Handknits at TNNA in Columbus.  Kim was handing out these little morsels of goodness to pretty much anyone with a smile.  The second I had a bite I knew I was in love.  The flavor of these delicious cookies is almost impossible to describe.  Now I myself am a die-hard chocoholic, but this cookie with all its lemony goodness blew my mind.  Kim was nice enough to share the recipe with me and even nicer to let me share with you. Now I must preface by saying that I AM NOT A BAKER!  If it's going in the oven I am likely to mess it up someway or another.  So to reduce my chances of messing things up, I took my time with every step.  And an hour and a half later I had these yum yum cookies! Now of course it's in my nature not to follow directions (which is why I design my own patterns).  So naturally I made a few modifications and learned a few things.  Apparently there are different grades of cornmeal.  Did not know this!  So I just got cornmeal (the first one I saw).  Apparently this made for some very crunch cookies and a pretty good laugh.

Here is what you need:
<ul>
	<li>1 stick softened butter</li>
	<li>1/4 cup sugar</li>
	<li>1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary</li>
	<li>3/4 tsp lemon zest</li>
	<li>2 egg yolks (reserve whites for a healthy breakfast tomorrow)</li>
	<li>1 tsp vanilla extract</li>
	<li>1 cup all purpose flour</li>
	<li>1/3 cup super-extra-fine cornmeal</li>
	<li>1/4 tsp salt</li>
	<li>1/3 cup powdered sugar</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_561" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Make sure to finely chop chop chop that rosemary!"]<a href="http://graceakhrem.com/?attachment_id=561" rel="attachment wp-att-561"><img class="size-medium wp-image-561" title="DSC_0075" src="http://graceakhrem.com/wpdev/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DSC_0075-500x334.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></a>[/caption]
<p style="text-align: left;">How to make the cookies step-by-step:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees (I always forget to do this part, and then end up waiting forever)</p>
2.  Place lemon zest, rosemary and sugar in a small bowl.  Rub, rub, rub that rosemary and lemon zest vigorously, then set aside for a few minutes to allow the oils to release.

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[caption id="attachment_562" align="aligncenter" width="334" caption="Sugar, rosemary &amp; lemon zest mixture, post rubbing"]<a href="http://graceakhrem.com/?attachment_id=562" rel="attachment wp-att-562"><img class="size-medium wp-image-562" title="DSC_0087" src="http://graceakhrem.com/wpdev/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DSC_0087-334x500.jpg" alt="" width="334" height="500" /></a>[/caption]

3.  Beat butter &amp; sugar mixture until combined.  Bet in the egg yolks and the vanilla.

4.  Mix flour, cornmeal, and salt in a separate bowl.  Then add to butter mixture slowly in batches.  Beat until combined.

5.  Shape the dough into two logs one inch in diameter.  Wrap in plastic and chill for two hours (Now that I am typing up this set of instructions I see this, but I totally skipped over that part when I made mine.  If you don't chill they still taste good!).

6.  Brush logs with lightly beaten egg whites and roll in sugar to coat.  I missed this step too.  I told you I'm terrible at following directions.  So this is not a crucial step, the cookies will still taste good!

7.  Slice logs into 1/3" wide rounds.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.  Transfer to racks to cool.  I was watching the Barefoot Contessa on Tuesday, and she did an entire show on cookies (it was meant to be, really!).  The Barefoot Contessa says to place your cookies in the center of your oven and then rotate them half way through the baking process.

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[caption id="attachment_563" align="aligncenter" width="334" caption="Before bake"]<a href="http://graceakhrem.com/?attachment_id=563" rel="attachment wp-att-563"><img class="size-medium wp-image-563" title="DSC_0094" src="http://graceakhrem.com/wpdev/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DSC_0094-334x500.jpg" alt="" width="334" height="500" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_564" align="aligncenter" width="334" caption="After bake :)"]<a href="http://graceakhrem.com/?attachment_id=564" rel="attachment wp-att-564"><img class="size-medium wp-image-564" title="DSC_0103" src="http://graceakhrem.com/wpdev/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DSC_0103-334x500.jpg" alt="" width="334" height="500" /></a>[/caption]

8.  Once the cookies cooled down I gave them a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

[caption id="attachment_567" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sugar dusted cookies, MMMMMMM!"]<a href="http://graceakhrem.com/?attachment_id=567" rel="attachment wp-att-567"><img class="size-medium wp-image-567" title="DSC_0111" src="http://graceakhrem.com/wpdev/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DSC_0111-500x334.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></a>[/caption]

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Once again, an extra special thanks to Kim Dolce for sharing this recipe.  I hope you enjoy these cookies as much my friend and I did.