Every year, I take a couple of hours to make a few different types of Christmas cookies and then freeze them to bring out for pop up parties and hostess gifts.  I always make different varieties each year (no repeats!) just to keep things exciting and to teach myself something new.

Although I do try something new each year, I do a couple of things consistently.  I always include a citrus cookie and a marshmallow variety.  The others are all fair game. And here is a fun surprise… not only will you be getting my recipe today, you’ll also be getting the recipes from 10 other amazing bloggers participating in this ‘cookie swap’. More on that after the recipe.

When I was looking for my citrus cookie this year, I decided to throw it at Bing and their new Bing Smart Search on Windows 8.1.  Typing in ‘Lemon Christmas Cookie’ (no lemon bars here) I was happy to see how the results popped up, which made it really easy for me to pick a direction and build this recipe.

To be honest, I didn’t think there would be anything new with this Bing Smart Search, but was very pleasantly surprised by how the web results were shown – all with photos of the post or page – so that you didn’t click on irrelevant pages just because they had some text that was related with your search.  I saw a ton of lemon sugar cookies, and some chocolate dipped shortbread and thought – YES!  I’m going to mix these two together.  So that’s what I did.

Recipe:

Chocolate Dipped Lemon Shortbread

Yield 5 dozen

Time: 1 hour (25 minutes active)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons powered sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 24 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix together butter, sugars, and lemon zest until creamy.  Beat in the egg and baking powder until combined. Mix in flour until combined.  Divide the dough into two balls and flatten into two discs separated by parchment paper.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then roll dough out onto a floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.  Made for 10 minutes at 350.

Once the cookies are cooled, dip each into melted semi-sweet chocolate and let drip on a backing rack.  Once excess chocolate is dripped off, refrigerate cookies until chocolate is solid.

So, I know this is a sponsored post, but I was honestly surprised with the search capabilities of Bing Smart Search.  If you guys have a PC or windows tablet – give it a try!  I promise you’ll be happy with it!

If you’re just here for the cookies (no shame in that) then you’re in the right place! Visit these other amazing blogs and give my favorite girls some love! You won’t be disappointed!

COOKIE SWAP!

Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies from Vmac + Cheese
Peppermint Bark Cookies from Lemon Stripes
Molasses Crinkle Cookies from The Average Girl’s Guide
Red Velvet Cookies from Savor Home
Brown Butter Snickerdoodles from Clara Persis
Chocolate Dipped Lemon Shortbread from House of Earnest
Dark Chocolate Orange Almond Biscotti from Cupcakes for Breakfast
Almond Sugar Cookies from Lark & Linen
Chocolate Espresso Cookies with Spiced Whipped Mascarpone from Julip Made
Brown Butter Thumbprint Cookies from Fleur de Sel