Over the summer I found myself looking for a dessert that would be great to enjoy on a nice day out with friends, but I struggled to think of anything that wouldn’t melt on me. That’s when I thought of one of the most iconic flavor duos: blueberries and lemons. I went straight into making my cookies and they were beautiful and tart, but they lacked a sweetness that I think every dessert should have. This led me to pairing them with a delicious almond buttercream since I didn’t want to stick to a boring vanilla, and thought a nutty flavor would give me exactly what the cookies were missing — a sweet and balanced flavor. Let me tell you, these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made and a fan favorite amongst my friends and family!
Tools:
- Electric mixer
- 3 large bowls
- Silicone spatula
- Baking sheets (enough to place about 12–15 large cookie dough balls; I used 2 half-sized baking sheets)
- Parchment paper
- Oven
- Dinner spoon
Cookie Dough:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ cups blueberries
- Juice & lemon zest from one large lemon or 2 small
Frosting:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), room temperature
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 7 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons almond extract, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Decoration:
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 lemon, cut into small wedges
Instructions:
First, we’ll preheat our oven to 350°F.
Then we move on to combining our wet ingredients. In one of your large bowls, add your two sticks of unsalted butter. Using your electric mixer, beat until smooth. Add in your sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
When everything is well combined, take your other large bowl and combine your flour, salt, and baking soda. Now, gradually and slowly combine ⅓ of your dry mixture with your wet and stir slowly to prevent a dust cloud. Repeat this step two more times until dry ingredients are fully mixed.
Lastly, add the zest of your lemon as well as your lemon juice, and using a silicone spoon, gently combine your blueberries. Place parchment paper over your baking sheets and roll the dough into balls. Bake for 15–17 minutes. Once baked, let them sit out to fully cool.
While we wait on our cookies to cool, we can make our frosting. In another large bowl, add your three sticks of butter and mix vigorously using an electric mixer. You want your butter to be fluffy, so be patient. Next, add your vegetable shortening — so your frosting can keep its shape and texture longer, especially on hot days. Then, slowly incorporate powdered sugar by the cup and keep mixing until the butter mixture has doubled in size. Finally, add your vanilla and almond extract.
Once your cookies have fully cooled, it’s time to decorate. I took a very minimalistic approach to these cookies. Using a dinner spoon, I scoop some frosting, plop it right on top of my cookie, and smooth it out, leaving a small indent in the center. I top with three blueberries and a small lemon wedge.
If you try this dessert, I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did!
