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May 20, 2014

Rose-Lemon Meltaways

Rose-Lemon Meltaways Karen's Kitchen Stories

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.

Rose-Lemon Meltaways Karen's Kitchen Stories

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.

Rose-Lemon Meltaways Karen's Kitchen Stories

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 Karen's Kitchen Stories

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:

Would you like to comment?

  1. Lovely cookies and what great piping skills you have. I wish we had sniff-o-vision so I could smell them right now. Taste-o-vision would be nice too.

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    1. Thanks Renee! The rose and lemon together do smell good!

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  2. Pretty as a picture, Karen! I need to get my icing tips out and start practicing. These would be perfect for a teatime table.

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  3. The icing on top really makes these special! I think they would be perfect for a baby or bridal shower. Gorgeous!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Holly. I was thinking the same thing. Perfect for welcoming a baby girl.

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  4. How pretty and I am sure delicious, love the piping!!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tara. It's' never been my strong suit so I was happy they turned out.

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  5. These are gorgeous! Love the use of the raspberry lemonade concentrate!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Laura. It's great in margaritas too =)

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  6. Hi Karen, these are gorgeous. Have never used rose water before, does it have a very strong flavor?

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    1. It's not like an extract, and it depends on the brand. They definitely differ. I'd start with just a little and see what you think.

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  7. These are definitely melt-in-your-mouth good, and I love how you brought in the flower theme.

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  8. I'll be making these, I just love lemons and they sound delicious. Thanks for sharing.

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