It’s citrus season and our awesome friends have given us boxes and boxes full of lemons. We were beyond excited to put them to good use! Umm, hello. Who doesn’t love free food?! So, here is the first recipe to arise from our lovely bunch of lemons, Chewy Lemon Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know, not the most popular combination but give them a try, and I’m sure your family and friends will be glad that you did. Enjoy!
Yield: 15-20 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (roughly the zest of 4 large lemons)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2½ cups flour, sifted
- 1 bag chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a bowl beat together oil, lemon zest, and sugars until smooth and creamy.
- Beating well to incorporate into cookie dough after each addition: add vanilla, lemon juice, baking soda, salt, eggs, and cornstarch.
- Pouring in 3 stages and beating until combined after each addition: add flour.
- Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Scoop cookie dough using cookie scoop (roughly a tablespoon) onto the lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the tops are nearly set and edges are beginning to brown.
- Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack.
Tips
- When zesting lemons, avoid pith (the white, bitter part of the peel) and only use the yellow part of the peel.
- You can make this recipe without lemon.
- For this recipe, measure flour, then sift.
- Cookies firm as they cool–if a chewy cookie is your goal, softly set right out of the oven will likely cool to chewy perfection.
- A cooling rack tmakes the difference–cookies are able to cool without continuing to cook (and burn) on the baking sheet.
- A cookie scoop ensures uniformly sized cookies.