Lemon Sugar Cookies are packed with lemon zest and lemon juice for an amazing treat. These soft and chewy cookies take just minutes to make but turn out perfectly.
This is one of our favorite Spring Cookies. You get all the flavor of traditional cookies blended with so much lemon zest and lemon juice. It is a light and delicious cookie recipe.
The entire recipe has the perfect amount of lemon so it is not overpowering at all. It is an amazing cookie that lemon fans will absolutely love. The flavor isn’t too tart and just really luscious. The texture is soft and amazing.
If you love lemon as much as our family does, try making these Lemon cake mix cookies and 3 ingredient sugar cookies.
For more sugar cookie inspiration, try Sour Cream Sugar Cookies.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Lemon flavor. It is so fresh and delicious.
- Easy to make. This recipe makes it simple to enjoy homemade cookies at home.
- Inexpensive. The ingredients are not complicated or pricey.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour. This is just regular plain flour. Make sure to always spoon the flour into the measuring cup so it’s not packed in.
- Baking Soda. If you run out, try one of the Best Baking Soda Substitutes.
- Unsalted butter. Softened at room temperature.
- Zest of Large Lemons. The zest adds so much fresh lemon flavor to the cookies.
- Lemon Juice. Fresh is best and elevates the flavor.
- Egg. Large egg and room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract. Make sure that you are using pure vanilla extract.
- Granulated Sugar. This is for rolling the cookies.
Get the complete list of ingredients at the bottom of the page.
Variations
- Frosting. Top the cookies with your favorite type of icing. Buttercream or Cream Cheese Frosting pair nicely with lemon cookies. It’s also delicious with Cream Cheese Glaze. Just drizzle over the top of the cookies. Try adding lemon juice to the glaze to make a sweet lemon glaze.
- Sanding sugar. Roll the cookies in yellow sanding sugar for even more gorgeous color.
- Cookie sandwiches. Place icing between 2 cookies to make a decadent treat. You can then roll them in sprinkles to coat the outside of the icing. This would be really pretty for special occasions or holidays.
- Flavors. Try other flavors and add lime juice or orange juice instead of lemon.
- Add-ins. Fold in blueberries or strawberries into the cookie dough. White Chocolate Chips also taste great.
- Yellow food coloring. Some recipes include yellow food coloring. I did not use it in this recipe, but you can add it for a yellow color.
How to Make Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Step 1. Preheat the oven. It should be set to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2. Combine the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Step 3. Combine the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat together the butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest with a hand mixer or stand mixer. I like to use the bowl of a stand mixer.
Step 4. Then add in the lemon juice, egg and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.
Step 5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Step 6. Combine until just blended and don’t over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed together. You do not need to chill the dough.
Step 7. Next, roll the cookie dough into tablespoon size balls and roll them in the granulated sugar. Then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Step 8. Bake the cookies. The cookies normally bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe FAQs
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.ย I recommend storing them with a slice of bread to keep the cookies soft and moist.ย ย
The bread will harden but the cookies will stay soft and chewy. It is a little trick that works wonders to keep cookies soft. If you haven’t tried this, it is a great hack to use for storing cookies.
You can freeze the cookies before baking. Simply form into balls but don’t coat in sugar.
Place on a baking sheet to allow the cookies to flash freeze. This normally takes 2 to 3 hours. Then put the cookies inside a freezer bag or container.
They should not stick together and be very easy to remove when ready to enjoy. When ready to bake, roll in sugar and bake as normal. You may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time if frozen. For more tips, learn how to freeze cookies for baking.
You can also freeze cookies that are already baked. Allow to cool and place the cookies inside an airtight freezer container. Separate the layers with sheets of parchment paper.
They can be frozen up to 3 months. When ready to serve, allow to thaw on the counter for a couple of hours.
Expert Tips
- Combine butter and sugar thoroughly. Don’t rush this step as it ensures the sugar is not grainy.
- Beat the butter mixture until fluffy. This gives the mixture air which helps the cookies during the baking process.
- Cookie Scoop. You can use a cookie scoop to form the cookie dough balls. This makes the process go super fast. It also helps to make sure each cookie is the same size and can bake evenly.
- Fresh is best. Try to use fresh lemon juice instead of the bottled stuff or lemon extract. The flavor is so much better when you use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Lemon Zester. We used a lemon zester to quickly and easily zest the lemon. This makes it so easy to only use the yellow skin and not the white layer underneath. The white part is bitter so you do not want to include that in the zest added to the cookie mixture.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. They will continue to set once removed from the oven. Resist the urge to continue baking them because they will harden.
More Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Dump Cake
- Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe
- 2 Ingredient Lemon Bar Recipe
- Lemon Icebox Pie Recipe
- Lemon Lush Dessert
If you love lemon, this sugar cookie recipe is a must try. Give it a try and leave a comment and star rating please.
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
- Zest of 2 Large Lemons
- 2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar for rolling the cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.ย Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest with a hand held or stand up mixer until well combined and fluffy (1-2 minutes).
- Then add in the lemon juice, egg and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Then gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.ย Be careful not to over mix.
- Then roll the cookie dough into tablespoon size balls and roll them in the granulated sugar.ย Then place them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges of the cookies are slightly browned and set.
- Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then move them to wire racks to cool completely.
- Then the cookies are ready to serve and enjoy!
