This recipe was inspired by two things.
1) Levain Bakery made a lemon chip version of their famous cookie, and they were just asking to be replicated.
And 2), I’ve been making Orgeat Sparkling Lemonade from Joy the Baker’s Instagram quite a bit this summer. I’ll include the recipe for it below, but it’s a sparkling lemonade with almond syrup in it, and it’s a marvelous combination. So I decided to combine those flavors with the Levain-style lemon cookie, and voila.
First, the Orgeat Sparkling Lemonade. I simplified Joy’s recipe a bit, since I didn’t want to buy Spindrift (the only ingredients in lemon Spindrift are lemon juice and sparkling water!). It’s very similar to an Army and Navy cocktail, but without bitters and with sparkling water for volume. But you can totally add gin if you want! I just tend to make this between 3-5pm, and while my job doesn’t work me that hard, I try not to drink on the clock.
Orgeat is an almond syrup, but it has a more rich and sweet flavor than almond extract. It’s sort of like marzipan syrup. So I decided to use Orgeat instead of almond extract in the cookies. I’m sure you could substitute almond extract, but I think it added a nice flavor that more replicates the drink. I also found out that Levain uses lemon chips in their lemon cookies. Which sound very intriguing, and I may decide to use some day. But for this recipe, I didn’t want to go through the trouble of buying them.
Other than those additions and changes, Levain cookies are actually a very straightforward cookie! And very easy to jazz up a bit, as this recipe (and Levain’s menu) makes clear.
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PinIngredients
- 1 cup cold butter (cut into cubes)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- Lemon zest from 1 large lemon
- 2 Tablespoons Orgeat syrup
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups Lemon Chips or white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cubed butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Cream together for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl halfway through.
- Add egg, egg yolk, lemon zest, and orgeat syrup. For extra lemon flavor, add more lemon zest.
- Fold in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt just until combined. Fold in lemon chips or white chocolate chips.
- Use a 1/3 cup scoop and roll into balls if you’d like the Levain-style cookie. You can also make these smaller for a regular size cookie. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes (regardless of size!). After baking, let set-up for at least 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- Juice of 1 lemon
- A “generous ounce” of orgeat almond syrup
- Sparkling water to fill your glass, or a lemon spindrift (If using lemon spindrift, only use half a lemon)
- Ice
- Optional: a shot of your favorite gin
Instructions
Juice the lemon into a glass, and then pour in orgeat syrup. Use an electric hand whisk, or manual whisk, and mix together until a bit frothy. (You could also probably shake this in a cocktail shaker, but I don’t have one!)
Add sparkling water until glass is mostly full (leave room for ice), or until the color looks right. Optionally, you can add your gin here. Then add ice, swirl, and enjoy!