Easter is about more than the cute arts and crafts and the candy, but there's no question that many kids wake up to baskets overflowing with sweet treats on Easter morning. So, when it comes to recipes for Easter, I try to stay away from the ultra-sweet. That's why these Easter Lemon Sugar Cookies are perfect.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 large eggs

Instructions

1.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it's smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Beat until it's well combined.
4.
Add the eggs to the mixer and beat on medium speed for at least one minute.
5.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture a little at a time.

6.
Stop once the mixture is just blended.

7.
Drop the cookie dough in roughly 1 tablespoon balls onto the prepared cookie sheet. The mounds should be about three inches apart.

8.
Bake until the edges of the cookie reaches a delicate golden brown, roughly 12 - 14 minutes.

9.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack to cool completely.
10.
Repeat until all of the dough has been used.

Tips

• Want to fancy them up a bit? Transform these tasty cookies into cookie sandwiches for a special treat. All you'll need to do is spread a little something between two cookies, such as frosting, raspberry jam, or even Nutella.
• Want cookie dropping to go more smoothly? Invest in a small cookie scoop. These little scoops—which look a lot like ice cream scoops in miniature form—make dropping cookies a cinch. Better yet, your cookies will all be the same size and there will be less clean up.
• If desired, you can sandwich two cookies together using raspberry jam or lemon frosting in the center.
• Store these cookies in an airtight container for up to four days.