Lemon Cheesecake Cookies

Last Saturday was Mike's mother's birthday.  It also happened to be one of the first true spring days in the city.

As she is quite such a sweet supporter of my baking, I wanted to make something special and unique for her birthday.

With the weather warming, the lighter tastes of citrus combined with just the right amount of sugar suddenly seemed like a perfect combination for a spring birthday treat.

The cookie part was very much like a shortbread, except with more lemon than usual.  In the future I think I will add a bit more lemon to the dough, to try to achieve a greater balance between the tartness of the lemon and sweetness of the sugar.

The filling was, obviously, cream cheese based with a bit of lemon juice, zest and sugar.  Besides the recipe listing the incorrect amount of cream cheese (tsk, tsk Martha), it was also a bit runny.  Next time, I will play with the proportions a bit more so the same taste is achieved in a thicker consistency.  But when refrigerated, the cookies were quite scrumptious - especially wonderful paired with a hot cup of coffee or tea.

I received a lovely thank you note for the treats and, just as I suspected, they were enjoyed immensely.