Bakers Against Racism activated once again in April, to stand against Asian Hate in light of recent hate crimes against the AAPI community. I knew I wanted to participate right away, and launched a Spring Treat Box with all proceeds going to the Chinese Canadian Council for Social Justice. I also matched all treat box sales and made a donation to Black Lives Matter, in honour of Daunte Wright and Ma’khia Bryant. When all was said and done, we had $715 going to CCNC-SJ (including another generous match from my brother), and $300 to BLM Canada. I’m so proud to be a part of this movement.

I decided the treats in this box would have a light and fresh vibe for Spring (even though I only ever want to bake with chocolate and caramel!). I had a lot of ideas percolating, but ended up with a nice assortment of flavours and textures, many of which are buried deep in the Planet Byn archives:

I saw these Lemon Crinkle Cookies on IG, and while I’m never voluntarily making or eating any citrus treats, I had to admit to myself that they were super cute and would look great in the box. I followed the recipe exactly, but didn’t add the lemon extract, because I didn’t want to buy it for only 1 tsp, plus didn’t want any fake lemon flavour. My #1 taste tester (Kristine) said they had a nice lemon taste, but it wasn’t overpowering.

I have big plans for Bakers Against Racism’s first anniversary in June, so get ready for that!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Source: How Sweet Eats

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • yellow food colouring (optional)
  • icing sugar for rolling

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and yolk and whisk again until smooth. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla and whisk again until combined.
  2. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir together with a spatula or spoon until the dough comes together. This is where you can add a bit of yellow food colouring to make it a bit more vibrant, if you want.
  3. Cover the bowl with a lid and chill for 2-4 hours.
  4. When dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. Roll the dough into 1″ balls and roll in icing sugar. Bake for 12-14 minutes, just until the cookies are set.