Lemonhorns

I've mentioned in the past my aversion to messing with already-created recipes. When I found a recipe in an old Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook for a pastry tea ring I had made once, an idea popped into my head and I was emboldened enough by the success of my Fiddler's Banana cake to try it. Instead of a tea ring, I changed the flavor and shaped it sort of like one of my family's traditional Christmas cookies called a butterhorn, hence the name.

The following recipe is easier than it sounds. If I could do it while winging it, anyone can do it.


Lemonhorns

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, cold
1/2 cup milk

Filling
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon

Glaze
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
scant 1/8 tsp lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add the milk and pulse until just moistened. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 16-inch circle. Spread with the cream cheese and sprinkle with the sugar and lemon zest. Cut into 16 triangles and roll them up, starting from the wide end. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes, until puffed up and pale brown at the edges. Let cool slightly. Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the pastries. Wait a few minutes and use a spoon to reapply any that drips off and pools on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.


The family verdict was resounding win! My mom had one after I had finished making them, proclaimed them "fantastic" with a "wonderful lemon flavor" and told me later that she had been thinking about them all day. (I gave her more.) My dad said they were soft and chewy and he liked the taste, while my brother Durge commented, "Uber...and sticky." Death wasn't big on the flavor, which could be put down to his chocoholic-sugar-addict sweet tooth, but he thought the texture was great. Me? I loved them. Sadly, my stomach was upset when I made them, so I didn't even get to eat a full one. I just nibbled on a broken-off piece. >_>

I'm definitely going to try them again sometime. Maybe I'll add almond extract and slivered almonds or something like that...mmm....