2 lg Lemons
1/2 lb Unsalted butter
1/4 ts Vanilla extract
2 c Sugar
1 ts Salt
1 Egg
3 c Semolina
1 c All-purpose flour
-TO DUST THE COOKIES-
1/4 c Sugar
USING A GRATER, grate lemon peels, removing only the yellow part.
Place the grated peel in a mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice and
set aside in a small bowl. Combine the butter, vanilla, sugar and
salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, if you have one, and
beat together at medium speed until creamy. Add the egg, 1/2 cup
lemon juice and grated rind and beat until incorporated. Reserve any
extra lemon juice for another use. Decrease speed to slow and add the
semolina and then the flour, beating until just incorporated. Turn
the dough onto a marble or wooden work surface and divide it into 2
balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill
for 1 hour. When chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll each
ball into a log 2-inches in diameter. PREHEAT OVEN TO 325F. Working
on a marble or wooden surface, unwrap the dough log and cut into
rounds about 1/2-inch thick. Sprinkle each round with a little sugar
and lightly flatten the rounds with a rolling pin. Place the rounds
on an unbuttered cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator until
firm, about 10 minutes. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of an
oven for about 10 minutes, or until the surface starts to crack
slightly. Remove from the oven and let cool. The cookies will be
chewy at first, but will harden as they cool.
Yields
84 Servings