Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mixture may appear curdled. That’s okay. Mix until completely integrated with butter and sugar.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter in stages, mixing until blended.

Dough will be extremely soft and difficult to handle. Tear off a large piece of wax paper and place on a baking sheet.  Using a spatula, transfer dough to wax paper. Wrap carefully and place in refrigerator, 2-24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Remove dough from refrigerator and divide into two pieces. Place piece you are not working with on second piece of wax paper, wrap, and return to refrigerator. Using the wax paper as guide, roll dough into rope about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. If dough breaks or cracks, patch gently. If it becomes too soft, place in refrigerator a few minutes to firm up.

To bake, use either a Silpat, nonstick baking sheets, or parchment paper; these cookies like to stick. Using a thin-bladed, sharp knife (a chef’s knife works well for this) slice logs 1/8 inch thick and place on cookie sheet. Allow ample space between each cookie; in addition to sticking, these cookies spread while baking.

Bake 6-8 minutes. Cookies are ready when they look gold on bottom; they will appear pale, even underbaked, on top.

Cool completely on baking sheets before transferring to cooling racks, which helps prevent breakage.

Notes: 1/4 cup lemon juice leads to a perfectly nice, lemony cookie. For an intensely lemony flavor, add a 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Either path leads to lemon cookie deliciousness.

Dough is very soft and difficult to handle. Keep portions you are not working with refrigerated. Unbaked dough may be frozen, well wrapped, up to two months.

Store baked cookies in airtight tin or, if you prefer a softer cookie, in a Ziploc-style bag.