We’re celebrating all things spring over here and I wanted to bring you an easy, seasonal dessert recipe for all of your celebrations. Usually, my lemon bars are all of the rage, but why not lemon cookies, too? Especially if they’re glazed with a lovely lemon icing.
These delicious homemade soft lemon cookies are a combination of a soft lemon cookie and a sugar cookie. They’re perfectly sweet with tender middles and crispy edges and have truly become a family favorite cookie over the years!
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The story behind these lemon cookies
This lemon cookie recipe was inspired by my Italian orange cookies, which aren’t overly sweet, but still full of incredible citrus flavor and one of my favorite cookies on the site.
These cookies are a bit different because they’re soft and chewy in the middle, but still give you slightly crispy golden brown edges like a regular sugar cookie. I tested them 5 times to get the absolute perfect lemon cookie, so I hope you love them as much as we do!
Ingredients in the best lemon cookies
These easy lemon cookies have the perfect chewy texture plus sweet, slightly tart flavor from both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Flour: these cookies call for regular, all purpose flour. Simple!
- Baking powder: we’re using baking powder (not baking soda) in this recipe because we want the cookies to be both soft and chewy similar to soft sugar cookies!
- Softened butter: I prefer to use salted butter in my cookie recipes because a little more salt always adds additional flavor, however, unsalted butter also works. Make sure the butter is at room temperature before you bake with it. I recommend taking it out of the fridge an hour or two before baking these cookies.
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar is best in this recipe.
- Egg: you’ll need one egg, and it’s best if the egg is at room temperature before you bake with it.
- Fresh lemon zest and juice: for that perfectly tart lemon flavor without having to use any lemon extract.
- Almond extract: a hint of almond extract (instead of vanilla extract) brings out incredible flavor in these lemon cookies. Don’t skip it!
- For the lemon glaze: you’ll need some powdered sugar, a little more fresh lemon juice, and almond extract. It’s light and oh so lovely. You’ll want to put it on everything.
Make these into lemon poppy seed cookies
If you want to make these lemon poppyseed cookies, simply add 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds to the dry ingredients and make as directed. Yum!
Can I make them gluten free?
I have not tested these lemon cookies with a gluten free flour, but I think an all purpose gluten free flour, chickpea flour, or quinoa flour would work well. You may just get a different flavor. A gluten free all purpose flour is probably best.
Otherwise, try my paleo lemon poppy seed cookies for the perfect grain free & gluten free alternative!
How to make vegan lemon cookies
I think these cookies would work well with a ‘flax egg‘ too if you want to make them vegan. Be sure to also use a vegan buttery stick in place of the butter, such as Earth Balance.
Tips & tricks for perfect lemon cookies
Here are some of my tips to make sure your lemon cookies come out perfect:
- Use parchment paper. Make sure to add parchment paper to your baking sheet to make sure the cookies don’t stick to the pan.
- Use an electric mixer. It’s best to use an electric mixer for this recipe so that you can beat the butter and sugar together until it’s nice and fluffy. I love this hand mixer or this KitchenAid mixer, which is well worth the investment!
- Use room temp ingredients. Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature and not melted. I recommend taking it out of the fridge an hour or two before baking these cookies. Do not attempt to soften your butter in the microwave — if you do this the cookies will not turn out correctly! Be sure to also use a room temperature egg by running it under warm water for a minute or two so that it does not coagulate with the butter.
- Do not pack your flour. Scoop your flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with the flat end of a butter knife. Learn the method here!
- Cool before glazing. Allow cookies to completely cool before glazing them so that the glaze doesn’t soak into the cookies. If you are in a rush and want to speed up the process you can put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes after baking.
- Use fresh lemon juice. Make sure you use freshly squeezed lemon juice for this recipe. Do not use lemon concentrate, it’s too potent and sour.
- Don’t forget the lemon zest! The lemon zest is very important to flavoring these lemon cookies, so don’t skip it. Here’s the inexpensive zester I recommend.
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: wait for the icing to completely harden on the cookies, then place them in an airtight container in even layers. You can place parchment paper in between each cookie layer if you are concerned with cookies sticking to one another. Cookies will stay good for 5 days at room temperature in cooler weather. If humid, I recommend transferring cookies to the fridge in a glass container after a day or two.
- Freeze the dough before baking. Simply roll your lemon cookies into dough balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once the cookie dough balls firm up, transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, simply bake the cookies as directed. You’ll likely just need to add a few extra minutes of baking time!
- Freeze baked cookies. Wait for the cookies to cool completely, then transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container lined with wax or parchment paper. I like to place them in a single layer to avoid any cookies breaking. Cookies will keep well for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature, add the glaze and enjoy.
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More lemon recipes you’ll love
- Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Paleo Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Healthy Lemon Bars
- Healthy Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
- Healthy Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Blueberry Glaze
Get all of our delicious recipes using citrus here!
I hope you love these lemon cookies! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe below! I’d love to hear from you and it helps encourage others to make the recipe too!
Lemon Cookies with Lovely Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup (150g) all purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Optional: 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (85g) butter, softened at room temperature (do NOT use melted butter)**
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 large lemon (about 2-3 teaspoons)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- For rolling cookies:
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, for rolling cookies
- For the lemon glaze:
- ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, poppy seeds (optional) and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add in softened butter, sugar and lemon zest; beat on high for 2 minutes. Next add in egg and almond extract. Beat for 1 minute until well combined. (It’s SUPER important the egg is at room temperature. To achieve this, just run it under warm water for 1 minute).
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and fresh lemon juice and mix on medium low speed until well combined.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to grab the dough, then use your hands to roll dough into a ball. Roll in sugar, then place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat, leaving at least 2 inches between each dough ball.
- Bake for 11-14 minute or until edges are barely golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once cookies are completely cooled, you can glaze them. Make the glaze by adding powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and almond extract in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. You may need to add in more lemon juice if the glaze is too thick (start with a teaspoon at a time). Glaze should be somewhat thick.
- Spoon about ½ tablespoon of glaze to each cookie and use a spoon to spread around. Enjoy! Makes 12 cookies.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on March 26, 2020, republished on April 2, 2021, and republished on April 21st, 2024.
I’ve made these cookies atleast 10 times! They are a family favorite in my house. Refreshing and delicious! That lemon glaze is a beauty!
So happy to hear that!
Please provide weight in grams/ounces of each cookie dough ball. Thank you!
Hi! That step isn’t really part of my baking process. You won’t find cookie dough weights on my site, but I’m slowly adding weights to the ingredients for all of my baked goods.
Can you just bake these without rolling them in sugar or the glaze?
Yep!
I love your recipes! I have not made anything that I don’t like. I have your book and use it often. One thing I have noticed is that you use a lot of almond extract in baking. I have granddaughters who are allergic to all things nuts. Do you have a suggestion for something else that would give it that pop without harming them?
So happy to hear that! Feel free to swap the almond extract for vanilla extract 🙂 They’ll still be delicious!
These were the most amazing cookies I’ve ever made. It’s the first time I’ve made a recipe that required nothing more, nothing less. Airy, fudgy and quick. Marvelous! I’ll surely make more, maybe even double the recipe!
Woohoo! 🙂
Ok, these lemon cookies are SSSSOOOOO good!!! I just made a batch and it took all that is within me to wait for them to cool. I haven’t even added any icing as yet and they are knocking my socks off!! Perfection! Adding this to my recipe box! Thank you for sharing!!
Amazing!! So glad you loved them!
So good th sweetness and the sourness are well balanced
Glad you enjoyed!
The dough was very wet and sticky, even after chilling. I had to add 6-8 TBSP of more flour. Add more flour, like 1/4 cup more. The cookies came out super fluffy and light after adding more flour – and not super sweet, just the right amount of sweetness!
Oh no, sorry to hear they didn’t work out for you! I wish I could help troubleshoot the issue. So many people love this recipe, so I’m glad you were able to adjust to make them work for you!
I tripled the recipe and made these cookies for my daughters graduation party this weekend. Her boyfriend has celiac and a severe dairy allergy. We used Pillsbury’s GF All Purpose Flour and used Earth Balance Vegan Butter Sticks, as you suggested. We also switched out the almond extract for lemon extract in the icing, because it gave such a rich tart lemon flavor to complement the sweetness of the lemon cookie.
These were a MAJOR hit. Everyone was asking where I bought them and then being totally blown away when I told them I made them myself. I pre-emptively made little recipe cards to put with some of the foods I made so people could grab the recipe if they wanted, and they were GONE. No one could believe these were GF/DF.
For anyone who has to do a lot of their own cooking for parties, I would 10/10 recommend this recipe. It was so easy to put together and gave a beautiful result. I wish I could share the pictures of them.
My only critique is of the instructions themselves. You say “use hands to roll dough into a circle”. I may be thick, but I sat there pondering you meant roll them into balls. The wording didn’t seem like you meant flat circles, because when I think of rolling them in my hands, I’m making a ball, not a circle. So my first batch was baked as balls and came out that way as well. Not a big deal, as I just smashed them down with a flat surface while they were hot and they turned out perfect anyway!
Amazing! I’m so glad they were a hit with everyone. Thanks so much for your note on the instructions, too – I’ll update 🙂
HUGE hit! Made these for the last day of school for my fellow teachers and they were all gone after 2 hours. Absolutely will make again! <3
Amazing! So glad everyone loved them 🙂
Hello, made these today and absolutely loved them. I didn’t roll them in the sugar and they were sweet enough for us. BUT the dough was very sticky and a nightmare to work with, even after 40mn in the fridge. I live in France, I know our butter has more fat than the one in the USA, could it be that?
Should I add more flour?
I really would like to bake these again! Thank you.
Not sure if you’d be interested, but I used vegan butter sticks and the dough was perfect to work with. Perhaps that could be an option to try? If you don’t want to use vegan butter sticks, when you are mixing the dough, add flour just a touch at a time and allow it to incorporate until the dough is a consistency more easy to work with.
Hi! Yes, you can add more flour as necessary. The dough should be slightly sticky – that is normal! Sorry you had issues the first time, but i’m glad it worked out with vegan butter!
Fabulous and easy recipe. I will make these again for sure. The recipe makes enough for 2 people to enjoy over a couple of days. My husband started to eat them before they cooled and it went downhill from there. The flavor is irresistible.
This is the first sugar cookie-style recipe I nailed on the first try! It was so easy to follow, and the cookies came out amazing! The ingredients are simple, easy, and ready at home (one large lemon will suffice in this recipe). If you don’t have a stand-mixer you can also use an electric hand mixer; that’s what I used! I will definitely be making these again for my family and friends! Thank you so much! ♡♡♡
Turned out delicious thank you.
I’m glad you enjoyed!
Omg these were amazing!! My whole family loved them!! They asked me to make a 2nd batch again and I did!! These will definitely be a staple i will make over and over!
Thank you!!
So happy to hear that!
Did not like this recipe at all. Am an avid baker and thought I’d try something different. Cookies cooked like balls, were dry and not very flavorful. Was very disappointed.
Sorry to hear that! I’d love to help troubleshoot. Was your butter softened (not melted) and did you measure the flour using the spoon-and-level method (here)?
Freaking delish. Loved them so much!! I loved how it didn’t make a ton either, thought 12 was perfect.
So good!! Glad you loved them!
I made these with gluten free flour, with lemon and lime zest/juice. They are absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
I love AK and have always had success with Monique’s recipes, however, these were a miss for me. They turned out super bitter (far too much lemon I think). That won’t stop me from making more AK recipes in the future, but I won’t make these again.
Sorry to hear that these didn’t turn out! Did you measure out the zest and the juice exactly? With the 1/2 cup of sugar, plus the rolled sugar and icing they should be the perfect sweet and lemon-y balance.
I’d like to know what I could use instead of butter.
I don’t eat dairy food but I’m a big fan of any recipe with lemon.
I’ve tried margarine but it doesn’t work very good (they became flat cookies) but we’re still good.
Thanks for your help.
Hi, Helene! Great question. I’d recommend using a vegan buttery stick, such as Earth Balance 🙂
Everything was working fine until I added the almond extract to the glaze. I had the worst headache and I still feel like puking. It was a good recipe and I enjoyed the cookies but the glaze made my sister and I sick.
Sorry to hear that! Do you have an almond allergy or sensitivity? Totally fine to leave the almond extract out next time!
I actually just didn’t use the glaze for the rest and it tasted amazing I loved the recipe. I think it might have been expired because we don’t have any food related allergies. Loved the cookies!
Ok, glad to hear that the glaze-less cookies tasted great!!
These are my absolute faaaaaavorite cookies to take to a summer get together! They are so lemony and fresh and just delicious!
These cookies are yummy. Made me think of lemony shortbread cookies. Next time I’ll use less lemon juice in the glaze, it was very tart.
So glad you enjoyed them! And good call on reducing the lemon juice next time 🙂
These cookies are fantastic! I’ve made them multiple times every spring/summer since finding this recipe a few years ago. They smell and taste heavenly and are such a perfect citrus cookie! LOVE these!
The best for spring & summer! Glad you love them!
These are amazing! I didn’t have almond extract, so I used vanilla and still very tasty. I’m excited to try them again using almond extract. Kids and husband approved!
Perfect! Glad they were a hit!
This was a hit at home and at work! Lemon is my most FAVORITE flavor.
Love that! Perfect spring treat 🙂
The only lemon cookie recipe you’ll ever need! Very easy to make, simple ingredients, and the cookies came out absolutely perfect. The addition of almond extract in the cookie dough and the glaze put them over the top! Made these yesterday for Easter and already making another batch!
Absolutely! So glad you love them!
Can I substitute vanilla extract for the almond?
Sure!
So easy to make & just plain delicious!!!
Absolutely! Glad you love them 🙂
Yum!! Super easy to make and had great lemon flavor. Love the addition of almond extract it adds the perfect flavor.
Absolutely! Glad you love them!
Sending a package to my son and he requested “something from the kitchen” he loves lemon, so I know these will be a hit. Now I have to make another batch for us-they’re delicious!
These were so good! I only needed 1 large lemon to get the right amount of juice and zest and used less than a 1/4 cup of sugar to roll the dough in. Love that the recipe makes 12 cookies, perfect amount for weekend baking.
Perfect! Such a great treat 🙂
Loved these! Turned out so incredibly soft and tasty. I love anything lemon, but these were something extra special 🙂
So happy to hear that!
Wow tasty I really love these cookies. Thanks for sharing this article and I really love this tasty recipe. All of my family members love this tasty recipe. I really like this recipe. Thank You
So happy to hear that!
These are so yummy! Made them with gluten free flour and worked perfectly!
I love this recipe followed it to the letter and it turned out wonderful. Because of the holidays after I put the icing on the cookies and before it hardened I put crushed peppermint on them wow this makes it alittle different lol
Thank you
So glad you loved them!
No doubt, The recipe is delicious, have tried for my kids. The lemon touch makes it more appealing for the kids like mine. who don’t even love to eat bakery items . So honestly thank you love.
I’m glad you all enjoyed!
Looks pretty delicious.
will try this out tonight.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hope you loved these!
I needed a last minute dessert and found this recipe. They were a huge hit! and I was able to make them after work and have them ready in time for dinner which is a major plus. I subbed whole wheat pastry flour since that’s all I had, and they still came out great
Amazing! Happy to hear that the swap worked out well. Such a great treat!
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
Amazing! Love that 🙂
Such a hit! These were very easy to make and absolutely delicious. I’ll for sure make them again.
So glad you loved them!
Can i use flax egg instead of eggs?
I haven’t tried it but let me know if you do!