Indulge in lychee-frosted sugar cookies with citrus notes and buttercream

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Indulge in lychee-frosted sugar cookies with citrus notes and buttercream

2025-12-15 21:37 Last Updated At：22:01

At first glance, these Lychee-Frosted Sugar Cookies from my cookbook “108 Asian Cookies: Not-Too-Sweet Treats from a Third-Culture Kitchen” appear humble when unfrosted, like any other ordinary sugar cookie, like those you would find at the supermarket.

But don’t be fooled.

These charming sugar cookies shine even on their own with their rich buttery base, tender crumb, bright refreshing citrus notes and a slight chew. Then, when topped with a luxurious buttercream infused with lychee extract, a bit of berry compote or jam, and finally crowned with chopped canned lychees, they undergo a bibbidi-bobbidi-boo moment. The more you bite into this layered and regal cookie, the more you’ll feel like royalty.

When pressing the dough portions, slightly wet the bottom of a glass or measuring cup, then dip into a shallow bowl of sugar to coat the bottom. For a variation you can skip the jam and add the lychees directly to the frosting. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, each separated by parchment paper, for up to 3 days.

Makes 9 large cookies

FOR THE COOKIES:

2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour

2/3 cup (85 g) cake flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 cup ' 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons (90 g) neutral oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (120 g) granulated sugar, plus more for pressing the cookies

About 1/2 cup (60 g) confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon red miso

1 large egg

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon lychee extract

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FOR THE FROSTING:

6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (140 g) confectioners’ sugar, divided

4 teaspoons (20 g) heavy cream

1 teaspoon lychee extract

Pink or red food coloring gel (optional, but if you use it, we want light pink, not a hot magenta pink)

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FOR DECORATING THE COOKIES (OPTIONAL):

About 1/3 cup (110 g) store-bought strawberry jam

5 to 6 fresh or canned lychees, chopped

Edible pearl sprinkles or gold foil

1. Make the cookies. Whisk both flours, the baking soda and cream of tartar together in a medium bowl. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whisk, or spatula), cream the butter, oil, both sugars and miso together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the egg, lemon zest, and lychee extract and mix until well incorporated. Again, scrape the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until a dough forms. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or up to overnight.

2. About 25 minutes before baking, adjust a rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Use a large cookie scoop to create nine portions of dough, each about 3.2 ounces (1/2 cup, 90 g), placing them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press each ball with the bottom of a sugar-lined glass or measuring cup until the cookie edges begin to crack.

4. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time (while the other sheet chills in the fridge), until the edges are crispy and golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Make the frosting. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add about half of the confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and mix until incorporated as well. Add the cream, lychee extract and food coloring, if using, and mix until combined and spreadable. Note that you will have just enough frosting for the nine large cookies. If you love the frosting, I recommend making more for these cookies.

6. Frost and decorate the cookies. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cookies. If you like, add about a teaspoon of jam on top and garnish with chopped lychees and edible pearl sprinkles or edible gold foil.

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Kat Lieu is a food writer, recipe developer, content creator, and the creator behind Subtle Asian Baking, the largest global online group that focuses on Asian baking and fundraising for Asian American and Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander communities. She lives in Renton, Washington.

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Excerpted from “108 Asian Cookies” by Kat Lieu. Copyright (copyright) 2025 by Kathleen Lieu. Photograph by Charity Burggraaf. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Iran hosts regional talks on Afghanistan, but Kabul stays away

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Afghanistan's neighbors met in Iran and agreed to deepen regional coordination to address political, economic and security challenges, as well as calling for sanctions on Afghanistan to be lifted. The only absent party? Afghanistan itself.

China, Pakistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan all joined the talks organized by Iran, as did Russia, according to a statement released after the meeting on Sunday.

Afghanistan was invited but decided not to attend. Its Taliban-led government was tight-lipped on the reasons, with the foreign ministry saying only that it would not participate because Afghanistan “currently maintains active engagement with regional countries through existing regional organizations and formats, and has made good progress in this regard.”

The statement from the talks in Iran stressed the importance of maintaining economic and trade ties with Afghanistan to improve living conditions and called for the country’s integration into regional political and economic processes.

The Taliban were isolated after they retook power in Afghanistan in August 2021, but in the past year, they have developed diplomatic ties. They now raise several billion dollars every year in tax revenues to keep the lights on.

However, Afghanistan is still struggling economically. Millions rely on aid for survival, and the struggling economy has been further impacted by the international community not recognizing the Taliban government's seizure of power in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops in 2021. Natural disasters and the flow of Afghans fleeing Pakistan under pressure to return home have underlined Afghanistan’s reliance on foreign aid to meet essential needs.

The countries at the talks also voiced security concerns and pledged cooperation in combating terrorism, drug trafficking and human smuggling, while opposing any foreign military presence in Afghanistan. They underscored the responsibility of the international community to lift sanctions and release Afghanistan’s frozen assets, and urged international organizations to support the dignified return of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.

The participants backed efforts to reduce tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have been particularly strained, with border clashes between the two sides killing dozens of civilians, soldiers and suspected militants and wounding hundreds more.

The violence followed explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that Afghan authorities blamed on Pakistan. A Qatar-mediated ceasefire has largely held since October, although there have been limited border clashes. The two sides failed to reach an overall agreement in November despite three rounds of peace talks.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, said the Taliban government’s decision to skip the meeting reflected a “lack of political maturity.” Writing on X, Durrani said the move reinforced concerns that the Taliban were unwilling to negotiate, instead adopting an “I don’t accept” stance that he said would do little to resolve serious regional problems.

Mohammad Sadiq, the current Pakistani special representative for Afghanistan who attended the talks, wrote on X that the Afghan people had already suffered enough and deserved better.

Only an Afghanistan that does not harbor militants would inspire confidence among neighboring and regional countries to engage meaningfully with Kabul and help unlock the country’s economic and connectivity potential, he wrote.

Participants agreed to hold the next meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries as soon as possible in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and welcomed Pakistan’s offer to host the next round of special envoys’ talks in Islamabad in March.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, on Sunday said that the meeting had not been held for about two years and marked the first such gathering attended by special envoys on Afghanistan from neighboring countries as well as Russia. Russia and Uzbekistan sent the special envoys of their presidents, while Pakistan was represented by a delegate from the prime minister’s office.

Landlocked Afghanistan is sandwiched between the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia, making it strategically located for energy-rich and energy-hungry nations.

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Associated Press journalists Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Abdul Qahar Afghan in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report.