Lemon Sugar Cookies and 10 Things My Mom Taught Me

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Another Mothers Day come and gone. Which, for the record, is not enough in my book. We should celebrate moms everyday. Or at least once a month. But one day a year to celebrate what moms do? NOT ENOUGH. So not enough.

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I was lucky enough to spend the entire day with my mom. In fact, I spent the entire weekend with my mom. My husband had to go to NY for work and my mom was gracious enough to move in this weekend helping with the kids, taking care of me and just being downright awesome.

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In the last 4 days, she filled 16 ice packs, read 27 children’s books, washed 5 sinks of dirty dishes, played 108 games of Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, gave 5 baths, filled umpteen sippy cups, grocery shopped once, made every single meal and somehow still found time to lay in bed with me while we watched our fair share of Food Network and House Hunters. The most incredulous part? She did it all with a smile. Never a complaint. She just picked up where she saw I could not and she ran the Epstein House like a well oiled machine.

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Mom mom has taught me so much about who I am today and the kind of person I hope to become. (Yep, even at 35 there is room to grow!) Here are what I consider to be her top 10!

  1. How to love unconditionally.
  2. Wash my face every night.
  3. Family comes first.
  4. Beautiful comes from the inside.
  5. Never underestimate the power of a hot cup of tea and a piece of chocolate.
  6. READING! The best escape is through a good book.
  7. Follow your heart.
  8. You can never hug your kids too much.
  9. Don’t buy a shitty vacuum.
  10. Be kind.

I will never be able to thank her enough. For this weekend. For every weekend she’s helped out in the past and for every weekend she’s going to help out in the future.

I LOVE YOU MOM. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, EVERYDAY!!!!

Other recipes you might enjoy:
Zesty Lemon Cookies from Real Mom Kitchen
Lemon Bar Cookie Cups from Barbara Bakes
Meyer Lemon Bars with a Coconut Crust from Mountain Mama Cooks
Strawberry Filled Lemon Sandwich Cookies from Evil Shenanigans

Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cookies:

  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • zest from 1 lemon
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (adjust as needed)
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon extracts. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and mix on low until well incorporated. Remove dough from bowl and on a piece of parchment or wax paper, roll the dough into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours up to two days. When ready to make the cookies, remove dough from fridge and slice cookies into 1/4 inch slices. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place cookie slices on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or baking pad and bake for 10 minutes. Take care not to over bake. Transfer cookies to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, beat butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and well incorporated. Add lemon juice, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Adjust powdered sugar (if necessary) to give frosting spreading consistency. Frost cooled cookies and if desired, decorate with sanding sugar or more lemon zest.