Combine all the dough ingredients and knead them into a smooth dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a sheet.

Use a star-shaped cutter to cut out cookies.
(If you do not have a star cutter, glass-cut rounds will also work.)

Place the shapes immediately onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Note:
When re-rolling the dough, try not to add too much extra flour. Although flour makes cutting easier, using too much will change the flavour and texture, making the cookies less soft, tender, and lemony.

If you added lemon zest (highly recommended), the raw cut shapes may look a bit “rough”, but this will be fully covered by the glaze later.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180°C / 355°F (fan) until pale golden or very light blush pink.

Do not worry if the shapes look a bit imperfect — the less flour used, the better the flavour, even if the cookies look a little rustic.

Once baked and cooled, sandwich the cookies together with homemade lemon or orange marmalade.

Sift the powdered sugar twice, add lemon juice and hot water, and stir over very low heat at the edge of the stove. If the glaze is too thin, add a little more sugar; if too thick, add a bit of hot water. Pour it over the assembled and set cookies, or dip the cookies into the glaze and immediately place them on a sieve or metal rods above a baking tray to drain and set.

For more see “Glazes” section

For decoration, sprinkle candied lemon or orange on top while the glaze is still wet.

Once fully set, store the cookies in a paper box lined with baking parchment.
Arrange on decorative plates for Christmas.