Honor the brave soldiers who fought for us with these pretty (and tasty!) Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies for Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day.  

A stack of lemon sugar poppy cookies for Remembrance Day.

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
A hand holding a lemon sugar poppy cookie for Remembrance Day.

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 have 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 and 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.

A stack of lemon sugar poppy cookies for Remembrance Day.
A stack of lemon sugar poppy cookies for Remembrance Day.

Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies for Remembrance Day

Yield: 18 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Honor the brave soldiers who fought for us with these pretty (and tasty!) Lemon Poppy Sugar Cookies for Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day.

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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 hours
    ½ 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 white
    4 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

Time does not include time to decorate these. This will take a while but would be fun if you can get some help from the kids in your life!
Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 223kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Sodium: 111mg, Potassium: 24mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 31g, Vitamin A: 158IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 1mg
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