These soft and chewy sugar cookies offer a zing of lemon to brighten up your taste buds and your day.
Warm weather, sunshine on my face, an ice-cold drink, and the smell of freshly cut grass. When I think of summer, those are the first things that come to mind! And if there’s one fruit that screams summertime, it’s a gorgeous yellow lemon. With its bright, acidic tang, it brings a vibrancy to both savory and sweet dishes.
We love lemon in savory dishes like Creamy Lemon Chicken and Orzo, but one of our favorite uses of lemon is in this delicious Lemon Sugar Cookie. This cookie recipe offers a chewy outside and soft inside with a zing of lemon and sweetness of sugar. It’s an easy, flavorful dessert for those summertime barbeques or as a sweet reminder of summer during those long winter months!
For this Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe, you will need:
Flour
I used organic, unbleached all-purpose flour for this recipe, but you could certainly use a gluten-free option. To ensure accurate flour measurements, use a spoon to add the flour to your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge, like the back of a butterknife.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda
Not only do they affect both browning and flavor, but baking powder and baking soda help dough to spread up and out. You can read more about using baking powder and baking soda in baking here.
Eggs, Salt, & Sugar
All are completely necessary to flavor and bind our dry ingredients. You’ll find that sugar is listed in the ingredients list twice. You’ll need some for the dough and some to roll the dough in before baking.
Butter
We love the richness real butter adds to baked goods. Using high-quality butter helps the cookies to have a moist and soft consistency.
Lemon Extract
I use my Homemade Lemon Extract in this cookie recipe because I think it really brings home that lemon flavor. A good vanilla extract will work just fine too if that’s what you have on hand, however, the cookies may not taste as lemony.
Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest
To ensure we’re getting that lemon flavor in every bite, we are adding it wherever we can. Lemon juice helps to activate our leavening agents, baking powder, and baking soda. Lemon zest contains lemon oil, which is where you’ll find the most flavor. When using the grater, you want to stop when you reach the white pith. This has a very bitter taste, and we definitely don’t want that in our cookies! I typically do two scrubs against the grater then move the fruit slightly to get more zest.
Making these Lemon Sugar Cookies is a breeze!
The short version of making almost any baked good is: combine wet ingredients in one bowl, combine dry ingredients in another bowl, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir well. It may seem unnecessary to dirty up so many bowls, but there's actually some pretty cool science that happens when we separate the ingredients like this. When we use leavening agents, also known as aeration agents, like baking powder or baking soda, we want to make sure they are being dispersed evenly. This helps to ensure an even rise and consistency in flavor.
To start, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl then set aside. To ensure accurate flour measurements, use a spoon to add the flour to your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge, like the back of a butterknife.
In a large bowl using a mixer on low speed, cream together butter and 1 ½ cup sugar for approximately 1-2 minutes or until the ingredients are mostly incorporated. If you’re doing this step by hand, use the back of a dinner fork to mash the butter into the sugar. This process should take quite a few minutes. The butter should appear light and fluffy.
Once the sugar and butter have been creamed together, add egg, lemon extract, and lemon juice. Mix well to ensure everything is combined.
Begin adding the flour mixture in small amounts, about ½ cup at a time, to the wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and lemon zest.
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and form cookies into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the sugar and zest mixture.
Place the rolled cookie balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, ensuring cookies are evenly spaced and will not touch during the baking process. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and chill the dough in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This is a step that can be easily overlooked but really affects the overall product. Chilling the dough before baking helps the fat in the butter to remain solid which helps the cookies from spreading and becoming thin.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the chilled cookies into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 9-11 minutes or until just lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes then transfer them to a wired cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Lemons are full of vitamin C and are great for our health. Research has shown that the smell of a lemon can help boost your feel-good hormones and reduce stress levels. So, if you needed an excuse to dive into these cheerfully bright cookies, now you have it!
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 Tablespoons lemon extract
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of one lemon
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Using a mixer on low speed, cream together butter and 1 ½ cup sugar, extract, and egg.
Begin adding the flour mixture in small amounts, about ½ cup at a time, and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and lemon zest.
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and form cookies into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the sugar and zest mixture.
Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and chill the dough in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Placed chilled cookies into preheated oven and bake for approximately 9-11 minutes or until just lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes then transfer them to a wired cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
How to Freeze Lemon Sugar Cookies
Drop cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for at least one hour.
When the cookies are frozen, place a piece of parchment paper on top. Carefully, wrap the cookies over so that they're sandwiched between the two pieces of parchment paper.
Place the rolled cookies into a gallon-sized freezer-safe storage bag. Label and seal. Cookie dough may be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove the cookies from the freezer.
Remove the top sheet of the parchment paper. Space the cookies out on the parchment paper to ensure they will not touch during the baking process. Bake cookies for approximately 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow baked cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
If your day was brightened by these delicious Lemon Sugar Cookies, let us know in the comments below!
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