Lemon Cookies with Lovely Lemon Glaze
These gorgeous lemon cookies are soft in the middle with crispy edges, and are delicious topped with a lovely lemon glaze. Add poppy seeds to these homemade lemon cookies to easily make them lemon poppyseed cookies! Lemon lovers will LOVE these cookies.
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Optional: 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature (do not use melted butter)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 large lemon (about 2-3 teaspoons)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- For rolling cookies:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling cookies
- For the lemon glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, poppy seeds (optional) and salt.
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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).
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Slowly add in the dry ingredients and fresh lemon juice and mix on medium low speed until well combined.
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Use a medium cookie scoop to grab the dough, then use your hands to roll dough into a circle. Roll in sugar, then place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat, leaving at least 2 inches between each dough ball.
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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.
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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 it is too thick (start with a teaspoon at a time). Glaze should be somewhat thick.
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Spoon about ½ tablespoon of glaze to each cookie and use a spoon to spread around. Enjoy! Makes 12 cookies.
Recipe Notes
*To make cookies dairy free: Feel free to use a vegan buttery stick, such as Earth Balance.
To make cookies gluten free: I suggest using an all purpose gluten free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour. I also think chickpea flour or quinoa flour would work very well but you may get a different flavor.
You can also try my paleo lemon poppyseed cookies if you are looking for a grain free or gluten free lemon cookie.
To make cookies vegan: Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) and a softened vegan buttery stick (such as Earth Balance).
If you want to use coconut sugar in this recipe, I suggest only using it in the cookies themselves. Personally I think it overpowers the lemon flavor too much. Do NOT roll the cookies in coconut sugar; it doesn’t have the same consistency.
Freeze these cookies: wait for them 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; I recommend glazing them after defrosting.