Lemony Shortbread Cookies

Buttery Lemony Shortbread Cookies

Last weekend I had the pleasure of hanging out with my parents in California and help them get their house ready to put up for sale. We had a great time going through pictures and STUFF and the memories connected to all of it. There were a lot of laughs and wondering why the heck we held on to so many things. 
I've heard somewhere that it's a good idea to bake cookies before a home showing--you know, to fill the house with yummy, homey smells. So I wanted to leave my parents with some cookie dough in their freezer to bake up as needed for showings. 
Mom and Dad have a great lemon tree in back, so I plucked one big lemon, washed it, zested it, and added the zest to the yummy buttery shortbread cookie recipe I'd found recently. 
When I baked up a sample batch, my parents, aunt and uncle, and myself loved the cookies so much that I had to make my own batch once I got home--and here they are.
I kind of over-baked these ones, but I actually like my shortbread browned all the way through, not just on the edges. These are a rich, buttery cookie, not too sweet, and with just a touch of lemon tang. Mmm. I'm glad that I'm able to freeze the dough so I don't eat too many at one time. 
These are GOOD. I think you need to try them. 
Go.

Lemony Shortbread Cookies
     --adapted from Simple Family Finance

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 medium lemons)
• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter, cold and cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks
• about 1 1/2 tablespoons flour + 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar mixed together for dusting

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• In a large bowl, mix the lemon zest, flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the cut up butter and cut it in with a pastry blender (see picture below if you're unfamiliar with pastry blenders). Keep cutting the butter in until the butter and dry ingredients become a dough and the pastry blender seems to be cutting it into slices (see pic below).
• Dust a clean work surface with half the sugar and flour mixture. Turn dough out onto work surface and flatten roughly into a rectangle shape. Sprinkle with more flour/sugar mixture. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, trying to maintain a rectangular shape as much as possible. 
• Cut with a pizza or fluted rotary cutter into about 1 1/2 inch square pieces (or smaller, if you'd like). You'll have scraps left at the end.
• Place on prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. (*At this point, you can also place unbaked cut dough on a wax paper lined sheet and freeze. Place frozen dough pieces in a zip top freezer bag and store in freezer until ready to bake.)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until browned on the edges.
• Allow to cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies

I don't like how this dough cracked, but the cookies don't have to be perfect to be delicious.