Deliciously chewy Lemon Cookies made using fresh juice and zest from real lemons. Drizzled with a two ingredient lemon glaze, these Lemon Cookies are the perfect afternoon treat.
Love lemon? 🍋
You’ll adore these lovely Lemon Cookies. With crispy edges and a buttery centre, these Easy Lemon Cookies are sure to become a firm family favourite.
Soft and chewy and bursting with lemon flavour, they’re a true delight.
When I set out to make Lemon Cookies from scratch I had no idea what I was in for. I wanted a cookie that was buttery and sweet, but not too thick and cakey.
The first couple of tries were far too spongy and lacked lemon flavour, but attempt number three was something special.
Simple. Sweet. Perfection.
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This recipe begins as most cookies do, with butter and sugar. Then there’s egg, flour and baking soda. Then comes a flavour hit, thanks to freshly squeezed lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest. Hello lemony goodness!
Once the cookies are baked and cooled, it’s time for a simple two-ingredient lemon glaze, just like we do for my Lemon Ricotta Cookies and my easy Lemon Slice. This drippy icing brings out the lemon flavour of the cookies and adds a little sweet tang.
Thanks to these cookies, my Lemon Ricotta Cake and my Lemon Raspberry Cake, I’m literally obsessed with all things lemon at the moment.
Who would have thought fresh lemon could take a regular sugar cookie and transform it into something special?
All I know is you need these lovely cookies in your life 🍋
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Easy Lemon Cookies
Buttery lemon cookies with a fresh lemon glaze.
Ingredients
Lemon cookies
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 245 grams (1 and 3/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Zest of 1 lemon, freshly grated
Lemon glaze
- 125 grams (1 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 3–4 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat again until combined.
- Sift in flour, baking soda and salt. Add lemon juice and zest. Beat briefly until soft cookie dough forms.
- Roll cookie dough into 16 balls, approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough each, and bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden on the edges. Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the lemon glaze, sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Add lemon juice, one tablespoon at a time, and mix together with a fork. Keep adding a tablespoon of lemon juice until you reach your desired consistency. You want the glaze to be smooth, but thin enough to drizzle.
- Drizzle glaze over cookies. Leave for 10-15 minutes to set.
Notes
Lemon zest: For an even more lemon-y cookie, add the zest of 2 lemons instead of just one.
Cookies spreading: If you have had trouble with your cookies spreading in the past, bake one tester cookie first. If it spreads too much, consider chilling the dough for 1 hour before baking.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 193 Sugar: 20.4 g Sodium: 81.6 mg Fat: 6.3 g Carbohydrates: 32.5 g Protein: 2.1 g Cholesterol: 27.1 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Alexandra Brown says
Absolutely delicious!! I switched out the lemon for orange as I misjudged a lime! Haha the biscuits didn’t make it to glaze point as the biscuit was smashing!!! Definitely a recipe going into my favourites 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 will make them alone next time so they get glazed hahaha
Jessica Holmes says
Oh I love this Alexandra! An orange version sounds amazing. A lime version would be good too! Now you’ve got me craving one!
Dirtgirl says
Wonderful easy recipe, so tasty, very hard to stop at one! Absolutely love all your recipes, have just received your new book delivered today! It’s beautiful, well done.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh I’m so glad you like this recipe! And thank you so much for ordering my book!
Sophie says
Came out so soft and chewy, me and my family could not get enough. Honestly this is the best cookie recipe I have tried in 30 years 😂 thank you so much for this recipe, may you have the sweetest day😛
Jessica Holmes says
Wow that is such a lovely review, thank you Sophie!
Laura says
These are so perfect. I made these for a family gathering in the spring and they were requested again for father’s day. So easy. They are just the perfect cookie.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh that’s so lovely to hear Laura!
Annabelle Hersel Hersel says
Can I make them with lime instead of lemon?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely! Yum!
Halle george says
Made this twice now! Absolutely delicious and the texture is perfect
Jessica Holmes says
That’s so wonderful to hear Halle!
Abbe Power says
Perfectly light and sweet cookie, highly recommend baking these!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them!
Donna says
First time making and they are delicious. I chilled the dough for 30 minutes before baking and used the drop spoon method, as the dough is sticky, and they turned out perfectly. I also used two drops of yellow food coloring in the icing. I will definitely be making them again. Thank you for sharing your deliciousness. God bless
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed these Donna! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Penny says
Made these and they were delicious for my first attempt!
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So glad you enjoyed these Penny!
Judy says
I baked them and were great. Can I freeze them as I like to get ahead foe Christmas. Judy
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Judy, so pleased you enjoyed these! You can or you can freeze the cookie dough and then bake them closer to Christmas? You can roll the cookie dough balls, place them in the freezer. Then just thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking as per the instructions. Merry Christmas!
Jill Keesee says
My dough for the lemon cookies is very sticky making it impossible to roll.
What can I do to fix this?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jill, just pop the cookie dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes and see if it’s easy to roll after that?
Kali says
I love these sweet soft cookies!!!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Kali!
Faried says
So easy to make. I made it smaller . Kept in the baking tim in the fridge for 20 min. Baked for 10 min.
Jessica Holmes says
That’s wonderful to hear!
Blake says
I made a gluten free dairy free version of these and they turned out great 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
That’s wonderful to hear Blake!
Carol Garden says
Very good
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed them Carol!
Liza says
Hi. Appreciate the nice recipe. The flavor is nice and mild but my cookies spread a lot – pancake size. And the glaze was way too thin so I spent a lot of time figuring out how much to thicken it.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m sorry to hear that Liza! They really shouldn’t spread out into a pancake! It could be indicative that your butter was too soft (this can happen if you over-mix the cookie dough) or that you added too much lemon juice. Chilling the dough will help you or you can even pop the cookie dough balls in the freezer. And a little less lemon juice in the glaze next time will help. I appreciate your feedback.