Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies for Remembrance Day
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Honor the brave soldiers who fought for us with these pretty (and tasty!) Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies for Remembrance Day or Veterans’ Day.
In Flanders Fields (Poem)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~Written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Wearing a poppy – a Canadian tradition
Seeing red poppies pop up over the hearts of men and women around town always means one thing: it’s time to remember. It’s time to remember the sacrifices made by our fellow citizens. It is time to remember the soldiers that fell and the lives that would never be the same. It’s time to remember how lucky we are to have the freedom and the peace we all enjoy, and often take for granted, today.
Having grown up in a family where my grandparents lived through the war, both as soldiers and civilians, this time of year has always been very special. Hearing their stories, only a few as most are still too painful to recall and share, makes me incredibly thankful to live in a peaceful country.
While Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day, for my neighbors to the south) has never been about celebration through food, I decided this year I would create something special in honor of all those we will remember as we stand for our moment of silence at 11 am this November 11th.
Poppy-Shaped Cookies
These little poppy-shaped cookies are light, flaky, and have a refreshing lemon taste. They are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. They are a basic sugar cookie recipe with lemon and poppy seeds added for fun. The flavor is wonderful.
If you’re not the cookie-decorating type, feel free to skip the icing; It is the most time-consuming part of making this recipe. Or you could pipe on the red frosting and call that good. They’ll still look pretty and they’ll taste just as good.
If you want to ice the cookies as shown, set aside a little time or gather the family for a little cookie-decorating fun.
Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (at room temperature)
- ¾ cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 2 cups flour (plus more for rolling the dough)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Decorating the Cookies
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Red and black food coloring
- Poppy seeds (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice until combined. Beat in flour, salt, and poppy seeds. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours½ cup butter, ¾ cup icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using 2 or three different size cookie cutters. Transfer to a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes
- Bake until the edges just start to brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely
Make frosting:
- Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl. Add more lemon juice if too thick or more icing sugar if too thin. Tint a large portion red, a small portion black, and leave the remaining white4 cups icing sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, Red and black food coloring
Decorate:
- Trace an outline around the cookie with the red icing, following the poppy shape. Pipe a dot of icing into each of the petals and feather to cover each petal. Immediately make a circle with small dots in the middle with the white icing. Using a toothpick draw the white icing to the edges of the poppy. Once the icing is set, pipe a large white dot in the center of each cookie. Once the dot is set, pipe a black line around the dot and immediately sprinkle with poppy seeds. Allow the frosting to set completely before storing.Poppy seeds
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
This recipe didn’t work for me at all. I followed instructions carefully as always and what a let down! Couldn’t get it to roll out as it just crumbled. Threw it all in the garbage, what a waste of time and ingredients
I’m sorry that this recipe didn’t work out for you. It sounds like there may have been too much flour added to the dough. When measuring flour, make sure to use the scoop and sweep method. To do that, spoon the the flour into the measuring cup until it’s mounded on top. The, take a knife and scrape off the excess flour. I hope that helps!
would this we be able to be frozen or stored in a container for a few days?
Yes! They freeze very well.
Easy recipe to follow. When I took my dough out of the fridge it was very crumbly. I managed to get cookies, using my cookie cutter, but I was confused as to why the texture was like that.
Maybe the dough was a little too cold when it came out of the fridge. I’ve had that happen with cookies before and once they warm up a little they hold together again. That’s my best guess!
Your recipe directions say BUTTER, but the amount is not listed in the ingredients.
Hi Cindy,
Holy … what happened to the butter?! It’s supposed to (and now does) read 1/2 a cup of butter, softened.
Thanks, Elaine!
what a good idea
These are so cute! I hope you remind us of them again next November 🙂
Hello! Tasty Tours is a Toronto-based sweets tour that introduces people to sweets stores where they sample chocolates, cupcakes & more while learning about the treats they eat.
I just wanted to let you know that you’ve been featured on our facebook page.
Those are some beautiful cookies and I love the write-up for this post, especially with the poem as the introduction.
-Audrey
Hey Audrey,
I just had a look around your website. What a great idea! And thank you so much for linking me on your Facebook page 🙂
No problem! Good things are meant to be shared. Come visit us in Toronto sometime. 🙂
Next time I’m in Toronto I’ll definitely come visit!
What pretty flower cookies! I’m going to remember these for next year Remembrance Day! How perfect!! I featured them on my blog today too
Hi Victoria,
Thank you for putting my poppy cookies on your blog! I checked out your blog, by the way. I love all the cute projects you’ve collected. What a perfect place to get some inspiration!
What a gorgeous colorway, Kristen !
These are so pretty … and awesome copy, as usual!
Thanks,
Edita
Thank you so much, Edita!