Recipe: Lemon Walnut Wafers

LEMON WALNUT WAFERS

1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch of powdered ginger
Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
2 ounces (generous 1/2 cup) walnuts, cut or broken into medium-size pieces

Adjust 2 racks to divide oven into thirds and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ginger, and set aside.

In small cup mix lemon zest and juice and set aside.

In small bowl of electric mixer cream butter. Add sugar and beat well. Add egg and yolks, scraping bowl with rubber spatula and beating until mixture is light and fluffy. On low speed gradually add sifted dry ingredients, scraping bowl with spatula and beating only until mixture is smooth.

Remove bowl from mixer and stir in lemon rind and juice and then the nuts. Use a well-rounded teaspoonful of dough for each cookie. Place them 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, reversing sheets top to bottom and front to back once to ensure even baking. Cookies will not brown on tops, but there will be a thin brown edge. They are done if tops spring back when lightly pressed with fingertip. (If you bake one sheet at a time, use upper rack.) With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool.

Makes 3 dozen
Source: Cookies by Maida Heatter