Lemon Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

I saw this recipe on Everybody Likes Sandwiches and immediately saved it since I almost always have the ingredients for them in the house. Today I finally got around to trying it, and they're incredibly easy. Absolutely delicious, especially if you like buttery, delicate cookies - they're a little crumbly but not too sweet with a lovely lemony flavor. The cornmeal gives the cookies a special texture that I really liked. My batch made 29 cookies but I think maybe I should try sticking to tablespoon amounts of dough, since the smaller ones really flattened out in the oven. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. In a large bowl, blend together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the vanilla and lemon zest and mix. In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt and whisk together. Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture and stir until just combined. I found it easier to use my hands at this stage because the dough wasn't really combining well until I really got in there and squished it all together.

Line your baking sheet with foil, and using your hands, pinch off about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Press each ball with a fork and repeat, spacing each cookie about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the undersides of the cookie are slightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Makes 18 cookies.