Soft chewy lemon sugar cookies are always a hit! A light lemon cookie that will be a crowd favorite.
Lemon Sugar Cookies
I may be a chocoholic but these cookies got me from the first bite. Actually, I lie. It was from the first bite of cookie dough because after one taste, I was hooked! Since my Mom loves all things lemon, I decided I had to break free from my chocolate love affair and make something that she would love - a sweet, soft lemon sugar cookie.
She was smitten with the first taste! This cookie is bursting with fresh lemon flavor without being too tart and if you could imagine a marriage between a soft sugar cookie and a tangy lemon, you will get this delectable lemon sugar cookie.
This is a soft, chewy lemon cookie with a light lemon flavor. It is a simple, crowd-pleasing recipe that everyone loves! Add more lemon zest for extra lemon flavor.
Key Steps for making the BEST Lemon sugar cookies:
- Cream butter and sugar for four minutes or until light and fluffy. This breaks down the sugar so you don't end up with grainy cookies. It also whips in the air, which not only helps to give the cookie body but keeps it from going completely flat once it hits the hot oven.
- Use fresh lemon juice. The fake stuff you find in the grocery store just tastes fake. Fresh lemon transforms so many dishes and since it's the star ingredient in this cookie, fresh is best.
- Use a zester to get the vibrant yellow skin from the lemon and leave the bitter white part behind. We want the good stuff! Click HERE to buy a zester for about $10 bucks.
- These cookies are best soft so don't overbake. An outstanding cookie can become mediocre just from overbaking. I always use non-stick silicone baking sheets. These silicone baking sheets are some of my favorites because they work well and are reasonably priced.
- Top with sparkling sugar just as you are removing the cookies from the oven.
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter cold, cut into cubes
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest may put more lemon zest for extra flavor
- 3 cups Flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- *may put in a drop of yellow food coloring for color
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir to combine.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
- Drop dough onto light colored baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar or white sparkling sugar.
Thank as always for all of your incredible support. xo Happy Baking!
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Edwin Sakai
We made this recipe with the suggestion of more lemon zest for a more lemony flavor. We added 1 top. more and they were fabulous!
Christine
I have made these cookies many times and would like to make them ahead of time for my daughter's wedding. Can I make them and freeze them for a couple of weeks? These are the best cookies if you love lemon!!
Steffany
We all enjoyed the cookies. It's true don't over bake these. Know your oven! Our runs hot so we only cooked ours for 8 minutes and they didn't end up chewing taffy like which is a disappointment when we didn't cook them for the 9-11 minutes. Thank you for your time and posting of this recipe to share. My whole family loves them. We did add 1 drop lemon essential oil because we didn't have another half of lemon zest we only had a tablespoon. The of course tasted great however the zest looks so pretty so we missed out on having cute yellow pieces in our cookies.
Cynthia
I love this recipe. Instead of adding lemon zest I added one tablespoon of lemon extract. I also added one half cup finely chopped walnuts. And they turned out so good the family loves them.
Kourtney
Should dough chill for a while before baking or good to go right after mixing?
Caroline
I love this recipe! The cookies are so delicious and have a wonderful pop of lemon.
Julie
These are amazing cookies. The texture is perfect. The crumb is soft and buttery. I did but in 1T more of lemon juice and 1/2 tsp of lemon oil as well as 2 drops of lemon food coloring as mentioned in the recipe. One thing I’d say is that the baking directions are a bit scant. It said 20 cookies. Those must be really big cookies. I used a large 1 T scoop and it made about 37 cookies (after I ate a lot of dough). I would also suggest a bit more salt in the recipe. Because of that, I sprinkled some Maldon Salt on top after the sugar. My cookies took 12 minutes and they looked great and baked great without “smooshing” them down after scooping them.
Susan Robertson
Why cold butter cut into cubes if you are creaming it?
Carol
I am making this right now; did not read the comments first. BIG MISTAKE. Ha ha, just opened oven door and flattened cookies. The dough is not the kind you can drop. So far, it is delicious but I put in more lemon zest and more lemon juice than recipe suggests. I will keep you pasted. (I wonder why the recipe says to drop them?)
Chris
loved how this turned out made large cookies. would love to have added lemonchello to it.
Mel
These by far are the “BEST” lemon cookies I have ever tasted. Sooooo good. The recipe makes large cookies which I didn’t realize so this made a ton so I took them to a bbq and everyone raved about them I sent 3 ppl your recipe. Best lemon cookies ever!!
Karen
Thanks for the recipe. A good sugar cookie but not enough lemon flavour for me. I halved everything but kept full amount of lemon juice/zest as written, I even topped them with more zest along with the sugar. I will add lemon extract next time.
Bridget
Do you add the sparkling sugar before or after baking? Recipe reads to sprinkle dust on after, and if that is the best way, will the sugar “stick”? My mother is suggesting to add the sugar before baking, but it would melt away I think. If anyone has suggestion for me, please share. Thank you!
STACIE CHAILDIN
Oh my Gosh, one taste and I am hooked! I made a batch for my Daughters for National Daughters Day and now I have to make an additional batch for myself. These are wonderful! One of the very best Lemon cookies for having and sharing.
Modern Honey
How cute are you to make them for your daughters for National Daughter Day? So sweet! I am so glad you loved them. Thank you for trying the recipe!
Lorena
Warning!! Dangerously delicious! I made these yesterday but only baked and then iced one, as I usually do with all of my cookies. Cookies are my weakness, and these are so good it would be easy to over indulge. Now how am I going to control myself with Melissa’s chocolate layer cake I am making today? That looks like another winning recipe, and I just have to keep baking to soothe myself these days.
Shauna
I love these cookies, I make them for my mom every Mother’s Day as per her request.
Is the dough ok to freeze, I was thinking to make the dough and give to her to leave in the freezer so she can make it whenever she wants.
Sarah
My go-to when I need to use up lemons. Not overly sweet or lemony. Great for a BBQ or picnic.
Bill and Alp
We made these for Christmas cookies and they turned out great! The dough comes together so quickly and easily. We chilled the dough for about five hours and the cookies held their various shapes perfectly. Loved the bit of crisp snap on the outside and the tender chewiness inside. We baked for 14 minutes at 350 (according to the thermometer we keep in the oven) and they all turned out great. We added a little extra lemon zest because we love the flavor. Definitely will be a go-to recipe in the future.
Priscilla
We just made and LOVED these! We cut the recipe in half and reduced the sugar by 1/4 c. We couldn’t stop eating these. They are perfect! My husband isn’t a cookie person, but he approved!
D Lin
Loving the cookies, turned out great. One negative is you cannot cream cold butter, it flips out of the bowl. Thank you for the recipe. Oh and there are too many ads popping up on this site.