Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These lemon white chocolate chip cookies are a little ray of sunshine — tart, tender, and downright cheerful. One bite tastes like porch-sittin’ afternoons, a sweet citrus hug that’ll lift your spirits. They’re made for passing around at potlucks, tucking into a picnic basket, or settling in with a tall glass of sweet tea and your favorite book.

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup butter flavored shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon paste or extract

1-3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

1-1/2 cups white chocolate chips

For the cookies:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. This step is optional, but it does make the lemon flavor enhanced, so try not to skip this. Add your granulated sugar to a bold and add the lemon zest. Now, with your fingers or a spoon, stir the zest into the sugar and really rub the zest and sugar together. This helps release the oils in the zest and really enhances the flavor. OK, now set that aside for a minute. In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the butter, shortening, granulated sugar with the zest and the brown sugar. Cream those together for 3-4 minutes. Scrape down your bowl and mix again for just a minute. Add in the egg and the extracts and mix for a minute. Ok, now in a large bowl add the flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch, and give that a good mix to combine. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until combined. Add in the white chocolate chips, and I like to mix these in with a wooden spoon, but you can absolutely let the mixer handle it. Ok, once they’re good and mixed, using a 2” scoop, scoop out all the dough and place them close together on the baking sheet. We’re not ready to bake just yet. Ok, now that they’re all scooped out, cover them and let the hang out in the fridge for 3-4 hours, and over night is even better. This really lets the flavors come together. Once they are chilled and you’re ready to bake, line another baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the cookies on your prepared sheet tray about 2-3” apart. I usually bake 5 at a time. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned and the center is set. When they come out of the oven, allow them to cool on the tray about 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they’re all baked, you can glaze them.

For the Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 lemon zested

1-2 TBSP of lemon juice.

Whisk all these ingredients together until nice and smooth, the drizzle as desired onto each cookie. Optional, but delicious step…Shave some extra white chocolate on the top while the glaze is still wet. Now just allow the glaze to set, then serve and enjoy!!