Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookies-Eric Does It Again
After I recover from the Thanksgiving turkey-stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie extravaganza, I crank up the Christmas music, which I play until New Year’s Day (yes, I am that obnoxious person who LOVES Christmas music). I watch The Holiday, in place of Santa Clause (the kids are all grown up now), and patiently wait for…
COOKIE WEEK
Yep, a week’s worth of holiday cookies created by NYTcooking culinary stars like Melissa Clark, Sue Li, Yewande Komolafe, Claire Saffitz, Sue Li, Sohla El-Waylly, and my two favorites, Vaughn Vreeland and Eric Kim. I peruse the cookies quickly and note which ones I want to try. Top of the list is usually Eric’s holiday cookie. For a guy who did not start as a baker, he has a knack for creating the perfect holiday cookie every year. My favorites, which I have rave about all the time include:
Eric’s Grocery Store Cookie – The supermarket, sprinkle-laden, tooth-achingly sweet Lofthouse Cookie revamped. Imagine a tender, buttery, not-too-sweet cookie slathered with a buttercream frosting flavored with freeze-dried berries and sprinkles. The LOFTIER version of that supermarket cookie.
Gochujang Caramel Cookies – A crisp-edged, chewy-center sugar cookie swirled with sweet & spicy Gochujang (a Korean staple). So damn good.
Matcha Latte Cookie – Make a matcha latte, snap your fingers like Mary Poppins, and turn it into a cookie, that’s this delightful bite. The milk-based frosting is icing on the proverbial cookie, amazing.
And this year, he does it again with his
Lemon-Tumeric Crinkle Cookies
Are you scratching your head? Thinking what? The combination of lemon and turmeric works so well. Eric describes it as “it tastes kinda like Fruit Loops” and I would agree. The turmeric adds a floral twist to the lemon. It also adds a vibrant rosy orange hue to the cookie which is simply gorgeous. It is such a pretty cookie with the rosy orange cookie peeking out from under the coat of powdered sugar characteristic of crinkle cookies. Makes me happy.
Let’s Get to the Good Part: The Cookie
Ok, this is a cakey cookie. After letting the cookies cool on a rack, I took my first bite…yep, cakey cookie. In full transparency…not my favorite kind of cookie, give me a good shortbread cookie and I am a happy camper. But I brought the cookies to a holiday party and they were GOBBLED up. Folks loved the cookie’s festive color and nuanced flavor.
Meanwhile, a few days later, I grabbed one of the cookies to go with a cuppa tea and immediately remarked to the hubs, “This cookie is better today than the first day”. The cookies were less cakey, moister, and still very flavorful. The texture was much more to my liking. So, note to self. Make these cookies and squirrel away a couple to munch on a few days later. Genius.
Pro Tip for Eric’s Cookies
Optimally, make these cookies by hand. I’ve learned that my Kitchen Aide stand mixer can be a detriment. It’s much too easy to overbeat cookies and cakes when using one. At the same time, hand-whisking for one minute, isn’t all that easy, lol. SOLUTION: If you don’t want to mix by hand, get a hand mixer! I did, it’s a Christmas present from my kids and hubby (although they don’t know yet, shhh). Make sure to bring the cream cheese to room temp, much easier to beat by hand.
Turmeric
If you aren’t familiar with turmeric, it is a spice in the ginger family. It is widely used and can be found at most grocery stores, especially in Indian and Middle Eastern stores. Bonus, we are looking at a win-win, turmeric is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. It may help with arthritis and other joint disorders, colitis, allergies, and infections. So this is guilt-free cookie consumption if you ask me.
Word of warning, the downside of turmeric’s brilliant color is that it stains. Avoid getting it on your clothes or counters!
If you have NYTCooking, a video of Eric making these cookies is on their site on YouTube.
Instead of butter, the cookie is made with cream cheese and olive oil. I love the use of olive oil in baked goods which is saying a lot, I am a BUTTERvangelical, lol. I made the dough and refrigerated it overnight. It was still fairly soft and easy to scoop. Use a #40 or #50 scoop to portion out the dough. Roll dough balls in powdered sugar, you want a generous coat of sugar on each one. During the bake, start checking the cookies at 12 minutes, especially if using a #50 scoop (less dough). Allow cookies to cool on a rack, store in an airtight container, and place wax paper in between each layer of cookies.
If you are looking for something different but delicious, include the Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookies on your holiday cookie list.
Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookie
Ingredients
Creamed Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¾ cup granulated sugar 150 grams
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from about 2 lemons
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt or fine salt
Dry Ingredient
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour 192 grams
Coating
- ¾ cup powdered sugar 92 grams
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil and turmeric until combined. Let sit for about 30 seconds to let turmeric dissolve. Add sugar, lemon zest, cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Vigorously whisk to combine and aerate the mixture, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in baking soda and salt. Add flour, then switch to a rubber spatula and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate dough until hard enough to scoop, about 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment. Using a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop (or two spoons) and working one at a time, scoop out 1½-inch/29-gram rounds and coat them in powdered sugar. Place them a couple of inches apart on the baking sheets and bake until crinkled and no longer wet-looking on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on the pan before eating.
Notes
I prefer weights when baking but without a scale, I would use the scoop and sweep method. Don't pack down your flour.