Lemon Cookies

When life gives you lemons, skip the lemonade and make these lemon cookies! These tender cookies are a lemon lover’s dream. They are packed full of bright citrus flavor: The dough incorporates fresh lemon zest and crushed lemon drop candies, and a drizzle of sweet lemon glaze takes them over the top. This easy-to-make lemon dessert is sure to get rave reviews at your next summer potluck or picnic.

Ingredients for Lemon Cookies

• Butter: Butter contributes a rich and creamy flavor to the cookies, and softened butter is what you need to cream butter and sugar. There are several ways to soften butter quickly, whether you want to cut it into small cubes, shred it or roll it out between sheets of waxed paper with a rolling pin. One trendy trick for softening butter in 10 minutes is to fill up a glass with hot water and let it sit for five minutes so the glass retains the heat after emptying. Then, stand the stick of butter on the counter, put the glass upside-down on top of it and (briefly) wait!
• Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the cookies.
• Egg: An egg helps bind all the ingredients together. Baking wtih room-temperature eggs is ideal because ingredients at room temperature incorporate more easily than cold ones. If you forget to set out your eggs in advance, place the eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot!) water and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes until they no longer feel cool to the touch.
• Half-and-half cream: Half-and-half adds moisture to the cookie dough, which contributes to soft cookies with a tender chew.
• Lemons: Freshly grated zest adds a bright lemony flavor to this lemon recipe. Zest the lemons before squeezing the juice for the lemon glaze.
• Flour: Using all-purpose flour results in soft, chewy and lightly crisp cookies. To make this lemon cookie recipe gluten-free, replace the all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten-free flour baking blend.
• Lemon drops: Finely crushed lemon drop candies add sweetness and just a hint of sour flavor to the cookies. You can use a food processor blender to easily crush the candies. Or, place the candies in a zippered bag, set it on a cutting board and smash with a rolling pin.
• Baking powder: Baking powder contributes to the light and airy texture of the lemon cookies recipe.
• Salt: A little bit of salt helps enhance all the flavors in this lemon cookies recipe.
• Confectioners’ sugar: This is mixed with the fresh lemon juice to make a bright and sweet glaze. Confectioners’ sugar differs from powdered sugar in that it contains cornstarch to prevent the sugar from clumping, but you can use either interchangeably in this recipe. You can also easily make confectioners’ sugar from scratch using granulated sugar and a blender or food processor.

Directions

Step 1: Combine the wet ingredients

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, half-and-half cream and zest.

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, finely crushed lemon drops, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Step 3: Bake the cookies

Drop the cookie dough by tablespoonfuls spaced 2 inches apart on parchment-lined or greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° until edges are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for two minutes on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks.

Step 4: Glaze the cookies

While the cookies cool, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies.

Lemon Cookie Variations

• Glam up the glaze: Instead of a lemon glaze, drizzle the lemon cookies with melted white chocolate.
• Switch up the citrus: Change up the flavor by using oranges, limes or even grapefruit in place of the lemon ingredients in this cookie. Use lime, orange or grapefruit hard candies in place of the lemon drop candies.

How to Store Lemon Cookies

After allowing the cookies to cool completely and the glaze to set, place the cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature. If you are worried the cookies might stick together, put a piece of waxed paper or parchment between the layers of cookies.

How long do lemon cookies last?

When stored properly, lemon cookies last up to four days.

Can you freeze lemon cookies?

You can freeze lemon cookies, but with a few caveats. Your best bet is to freeze the cookies before adding the glaze, as the texture of the glaze will suffer during the freezing and thawing process.

To freeze the unglazed baked cookies, set the cooled cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes or until frozen solid. Then layer the cookies in an airtight container, placing a piece of parchment or waxed paper between the layers. These cookies can be frozen for up to three months. After thawing the cookies, drizzle with the glaze before serving.

You can also freeze the cookie dough before baking. To do so, scoop out tablespoon portions of cookie dough and set them on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, about 30 minutes, and then transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container. Thaw the cookie dough balls before baking or bake them from frozen, adding three to four minutes to the baking time.

Lemon Cookie Tips

Why do my lemon cookies taste bitter?

If your lemon cookies taste bitter, there’s a good chance you included too much white pith with the grated zest. When grating the lemon, be sure to just remove the upper yellow portion of the peel and avoid the white pith underneath.

How do you fix a runny glaze?

First, make sure your cookies have cooled completely before glazing them. If they are still hot, the glaze will likely just run off or be absorbed by the cookie. Also, the general consistency of your glaze may be too thin, so simply stir in more confectioners’ sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon at a time) until you achieve the thick consistency you’re looking for.

Alternately, if your glaze is too thick, add more lemon juice (1/2 teaspoon at a time) until it drizzles freely.