Soft and chewy with pretty, crinkly tops, these lemon cookies are sweet with just a touch of tartness and just the right touch of lemon flavor. Recipe includes a how-to video!
When I was pregnant with Luke last summer, just the smell of lemon was enough to make me sick. Lemon cookies were out of the question.
It didn’t start that way, though. I had heard that lemon was a smell that actually helped ease nausea in pregnant women, so I worked on a string of lemon recipes. I developed recipes for lemonade, lemon brownies, lemon cupcakes, and lemon curd one after the other. And by the time I started filming these recipes, I couldn’t stomach the scent of lemon (but it was too late and we had to finish filming!). I made it through the videos (poor Zach had to listen to me whine and complain the whole time) and stayed as far away from lemon as I could for months even after Luke was born.
My appetite for it is finally coming back (and I recently shared my lemon poppy seed muffins) and I thought one of my oldest cookie recipes on the blog (I first published a recipe for lemon cookies back in 2016!) needed a refresh and a facelift.
What You Need:
This is just an overview of the ingredients chosen and the rationale for those of you who are interested in the chemistry and thought process behind my lemon cookies. Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients, measurements, method, and a video.
- Flour. All-purpose, or “plain” flour should be used here. I do not have any suggestions for substituting self-rising flour, unfortunately.
- Sugar. I use all granulated sugar, I found that brown sugar bullied the lemon flavor too much for my liking.
- Butter. I use unsalted butter and then add salt. Make sure your butter is softened before beginning so that it will cream nicely with the sugar.
- Lemon zest. You’ll need 2 ½ Tablespoons and we’ll cream the zest with the butter and sugar to release the oils and give our lemon cookies a stronger lemon flavor. I’ve found I need two lemons to get enough zest. One of the lemons tried to roll out of my ingredient photo above, but it’s there in the corner!
- Eggs. We’re using one egg and one egg yolk. The extra yolk helps make for a chewier, softer, and richer cookie.
- Extracts. Lemon extract allows for a stronger lemon flavor; I unfortunately found that the lemon zest alone wasn’t sufficient to flavor the cookies. I also like to use just a small splash of vanilla extract, though this is optional.
- Cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft and chewy and keeps them from spreading too much on the baking sheet.
- Baking soda and cream of tartar give the cookies their crinkly tops, just the right amount of spread, and deepens the tangy lemon flavor.
- Powdered sugar. I roll the cookie dough through this before baking.
I do recommend using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer to make this dough. Creaming the butter, sugar, and lemon zest could be done by hand, but it’s quite the arm workout and is a task to get all of the ingredients as well-combined as they need to be.
Making in Advance
Lemon cookie dough can be made up to 5 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Roll cookies in powdered sugar just before baking (not before refrigerating).
A Few Tips:
- Measure your flour properly. This is one of the most important tips that I can give anyone baking any recipe that uses flour, not just lemon cookies. If the flour is not measured properly the cookie dough is liable to become dry and crumbly. Which means dry cookies.
- Butter should softened, but not so soft that it is melt-y or greasy. If it’s too soft, it can make your cookie dough too sticky and your cookies more likely to spread too much. This can usually be saved if you chill the dough, but one thing I love about this recipe is that there’s no chilling required.
- Never place cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet. Always allow baking sheets to cool completely before adding the dough.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time in the center rack of your oven. All of my recipes (and most recipes, really) should be baked in the center of the oven unless otherwise indicated.
- Cookies should be soft and almost seem under-baked when they come out of the oven. They’ll finish baking while they cool on the cookie sheet. This keeps them nice and soft, even once they’ve cooled.
- For an extra pop of lemon flavor, you can skip the powdered sugar and instead drizzle these cookies with the same glaze that I use on my lemon brownies after they finish baking.
I also recommend watching my video on how to make lemon cookies in the recipe card!
More Recipes You Might Enjoy:
Enjoy! Be sure to check out the how-to video in the post!
Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ Tablespoons lemon zest¹
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose plain flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- (70 g) Powdered sugar for rolling cookies about ½ cup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer (or use a stand mixer!), combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Beat until creamy and well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 2 ½ Tablespoons lemon zest¹
- Stir in egg and egg yolk, lemon extract, and vanilla extract until completely combined.1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.3 cups (375 g) all-purpose plain flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Gradually (with mixer on low-speed), add flour mixture to butter mixture until completely combined. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are completely incorporated.
- Scoop cookie dough by level 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoop and roll between your palms until you have a smooth ball. Roll ball through powdered sugar and place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies at least 2” apart.(70 g) Powdered sugar for rolling cookies
- Bake on 350F for 9-11 minutes and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally published a lemon cookie recipe back in July of 2016. This is an improved version and the photos, text and recipe have been updated and a video has been added.
Dheekshana
Hi Sam!Can you substitute the cream of tartar with lemon juice or white vinegar?
Sam
I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure but I think it could work. If you do try it, I would love to know how it goes for you. 🙂
Dheekshana
👍.Making them at 2:00
Dheekshana
Just finished baking the cookies.They taste AMAZING!We substituted baking powder for cream of tartar and they turned out just fine.Thanks for sharing this recipe!I absolutely LOVE lemon cookies!Thanks!Bye!
-Dheekshana
Sam
Wonderful! Thanks so much for letting me know how it turned out for you! 😊
Marceline
Hi Dheekshana, may I know how many teaspoon you put the baking powder to subtitute the cream of tartar?
Faria
Hey Sam, just tried this today for Eid festive. It was such a hit in front of the guests. The crinkle effect was super cool! I also added mint essence to half the batch to get some lemon mint complementing flavor, it tasted yumm! Love your recipes!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed the cookies, Faria! The addition of mint essence sounds interesting! I will have to try it the next time I make a batch of these. Thanks for commenting and trying my recipe. 🙂
Lisa
Can we make this cookies without eggs
Sam
Hi Lisa! I’m not sure how it would turn out with a substitute.
Nancy
Have you tried adding lime to these? I wonder how that would be. Having a mexican food grad party soon and thought the addition of lime would be fitting. Maybe I’ll test that out after I try your recipe. Looking forward to making these (after I make your oatmeal cookies). Thanks!
Sam
Hi Nancy! I have not tried adding lime to them. I will be curious to know how it turns out.
Entesar
Hi!
What’s the substitute for cream of tart?
Sam
Hmmm I’m really not 100% sure in this recipe but you could try leaving it out. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Beth
Mine came out puffy and not flat and crispy at all. I’m wondering if I mixed the dough too long.
Sam
Hi Beth! Most likely if the cookies are puffy it’s because the flour was accidentally over-measured (or if a different type of flour was used). Unless you beat the butter/eggs a LOT on high speed, it probably wouldn’t be from that.
Larry D Akins
These Lemon Cookies are crazy delicious. My wife and I just love them. We will definitely will be baking them again
Sam
I’m so glad you and your wife enjoyed, Larry! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how they turned out for you 🙂
Ruth Gaff
How long will these biscuits last if I wanted to keep them?
Sam
Hi Ruth! The cookies should last for about a week at room temperature in an air tight container. 🙂
Kiara
These cookies are unbelievable. They are sooooo tasty😋😊
Love the recipe.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kiara! 🙂
LaRhonda
Hi I enjoy a lot of you recipes I’m just curious if I could substitute baking powder for the cream of tartar and baking soda?
Sam
Hi LaRhonda! Baking powder will work as a substitute, but you have to use the proper substitution here. It’s not going to be a 1 to 1 substitution there is a way to substitute it. I would be hesitant to recommend how much to use without having tried it myself. Let me know how it goes if you do try it. 🙂
Anna
Sam, I’m a bit creeped out. A while back I was making cupcakes and saw your cookie dough frosting recipe came out, it was perfect timing. I LITTERALLY opened my fridge and saw and bunch of lemons and decided to make lemon cookies tonight. Just checked my email to see this post. Gonna make them soon! Xoxoxo
Sam
🤣 That is crazy! I hope you love the cookies. 🙂
Anna
I’m finally gonna make this but I don’t have lemon extract so could I use lemon juice?
Sam
I don’t recommend using lemon juice here. It doesn’t have the very potent lemon flavor. I would recommend upping the lemon zest by 1 tsp, and then for a stronger lemon flavor, top the cookies with the lemon glaze found on my lemon brownies. 🙂
Anna
Thank you! They just came out of the oven! They got kind of crispy fast but still they are delicious like all of your recipes!
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Miriam Rose Blanar
Just made these, and they are so yummy!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Miriam! 🙂
Priscilla O'Connor
Can you chill the dough and cook later?
Sam
Yes you can make it several days in advance, just store it tightly covered in the fridge 🙂
Priscilla O'Connor
Another great recipe. I have all of the supplies to make them too! They sound really good. Well, it’s on my agenda today!
Sam
I hope you love them! 🙂
Olivia @ Olivia's Cuisine
Definitely my kind of cookies! I could go for a batch right this second!
Sam
Thanks, Olivia! 🙂