Rose-Lemon Meltaways

These rose-lemon meltaways combine a very tender cookie with a floral flavor and citrus.

What are meltaways you ask? They are a simple cookie made from powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt, butter, and flour, plus some buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Just add whatever flavoring you like. No eggs, no leavening, no refrigerating overnight. Just preheat your oven and start mixing. Super easy. No stress. You can whip them up without any pre-planning necessary.

The cookies are faintly flavored with rose and lemon, and then are frosted with a buttercream that is more strongly scented with rose flavor. If you are serving these to kids, I'd cut the rose water in the frosting in half.

To soften the frosting, I added frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate by the teaspoonful until the buttercream was spreadable. I found that it added a wonderful flavor. Water works just as well.

Rose-Lemon Meltaways

Makes 24 cookies

Cookie Ingredients

3/4 C powdered sugar

2 T cornstarch

1/2 T finely grated lemon zest

Generous 1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 C unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 C cold unsalted butter, cut into pats

1/2 T rose flower water

3/8 tsp lemon extract

Frosting Ingredients

1 1/2 C powdered sugar, fairly packed

1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

3 T cold unsalted butter, cut into pats

1/4 to 3/4 tsp rose flower water, depending on how strong you want the rose flavor to be

1 drop red food coloring concentrate

3 to 5 teaspoons frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate (or water) 

Instructions

To make the cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F with a rack in the middle, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. In a food processor, add the powdered sugar, cornstarch, zest, and salt, and pulse a few times. 
3. Add 1/2 C of the flour, the butter, rose water, and lemon extract. Pulse until the butter is cut into fine bits. 
4. Add all but the last 2 T of the flour and pulse until the flour is incorporated. Be careful not to over process. 
5. On a piece of parchment or wax paper, sprinkle a tablespoon of flour. Add the dough from the food processor, and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of flour on top. Knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is too dry, add water, one teaspoon at a time. If too wet, add flour, one teaspoon at a time. (My dough needed neither). 
6. Form the dough into a disk and divide in half. Cut each half into 12 equal pieces and form the pieces into balls. Flatten the balls slightly with your hand and bake, one sheet at a time, for 15 to 18 minutes. You should have two sheets of 12 cookies. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets on a rack (don't move the cookies until they have cooled). 
7. Frost the cookies. You can either spread the frosting with a knife or pipe the frosting on with a piping tip. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days. 

To make the frosting:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine 1/2 C of the powdered sugar and the lemon zest. Pulse briefly. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and pulse. 
2. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is incorporated. 
3. Add the rose water and the drop of food coloring and pulse a few times. Add the lemonade concentrate as necessary until the the frosting reaches piping consistency. 

This recipe has been adapted from Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett. The book is simply amazing.

The theme this month is May Flowers! All that snow and rain has to lead to something, right!? If you would like to become a member, just contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Facebook page, our Pinterest Board, and our monthly posts. You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Orange Blossom Honey Madeleines from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Lebanese Orange Blossom Water and Pistachio Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Lemon Persian Rose Shortbread from Noshing with the Nolands
• Lavender Poppy Seed Shortbread from Magnolia Days
• Hibiscus Sugar Cookies from Food Lust People Love