Dessert Now, Dinner Later!

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Soft Baked Lemon Cookies (+ Video)

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These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!  

 

 

 

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!

Y’all know I’m addicted to all things citrus.  I’ve forgone my lime addiction for now, and switched over to lemons and let me tell you, these lemon cookies are simple and even “plain” looking, but that says nothing about how they burst with lemon flavor!  

 

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!

I’ve covered all the lemon flavors that I could: zest, juice, AND extract!  It creates one bright, lemony cookie!  

 

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!

And don’t even get me started on how soft these cookies are!  Thick, chewy, soft, lemony goodness!  I’m ready to make them in lime too! MMM!!!  

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!
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Soft Baked Lemon Cookies

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!

Ingredients

  • 10 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • zest of 2 lemons (about 1 Tbsp lemon zest)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
  • 1 1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
  • 5 drops yellow food coloring
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Add the egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon extract, and yellow food coloring. Mix thoroughly.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary.
  3. Scoop 1½ Tbsp sized cookie dough balls and roll them in a bowl with ¼ cup powdered sugar. Place cookies on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 to 10 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container or plastic bag up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

 © DESSERT NOW DINNER LATER All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-create the recipe, snap YOUR OWN PHOTO and re-write the recipe in YOUR OWN WORDS, or link back to this post for the recipe.
 
 Recipe altered from Cooking Classy

 

These lemon cookies are soft baked and have plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract throughout for a delicious lemon treat!

Comments

  3. My mom created a similar recipe a few years ago. It’s basically her snicker doodle recipe without the vanilla and adding lemon extract instead. But, the ingredient that really pushes them over the edge is lemon chips (like chocolate chips; only lemon). They’re hard to find and kind of expensive, but oh so very yummy!

    Reply

  10. Made these and they are great! Only difference is that I thought I had lemon EXTRACT but it was actually lemon OIL so I only used a few drops for fear of overdoing it. Love the soft, semi-chewy texture and the bright lemon flavor.

    Reply

    • Glad you thought to reduce the amount of oil, since it is stronger than extract! And I’m glad you liked them!

      Reply

  12. I just Made these and did a thumb print with lemon filling and just baked two minutes more and they turned out wonderful, my husband loved them. Thanks

    Reply

  14. Well I found your blog by chance and OMGoodness am I thankful. I made these cookies for my Family Easter Dinner this weekend and WOW what a huge hit!! My Hubby rolled his eyes and the idea of a Lemon Cookie he “Old Lady cookies” Well he ate so many everytime he walked to the Platter I asked. Feeling like an Old Lady again?? LOL Thank you Thank you and wait to make more of your yummy food. Have a blessed day!

    Reply

    • Ooh, great choice! That’s the best when you prove your hubby wrong. 😉 Glad everyone liked them so much! Definitely look around, I’m sure there is more you would enjoy! Thanks Crystal!

      Reply

  15. Made these for hubby as a lemon lover also. Great recipe easy to make and lots of lemon flavor! Will be making often glad I found in time for summer season. Thanks Amber!

    Reply

  16. Thoughts on these staying soft if I freeze them after baking? Trying to come up with desserts for my wedding dessert table that are easy/can be freezed in advance.

    Reply

    • I haven’t tried freezing them myself, but I would suggest to try and fit as many as you can in a single-layer on a wax paper lined baking sheet. I’m not sure they would stack well, they might stick to each other and possibly wax paper if you stack them on top of each other. Maybe try one batch and freeze it to see how it does.

      Reply

    • You can. The lemon extract flavor doesn’t get baked out as much as lemon juice does, but the only thing it may do is flatten your cookie slightly depending on how much extra you add.

      Reply

  19. Excellent recipe…..made it as part of the dessert menu for a group of 80 people – a HUGE hit! Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply

  20. Sooooooo I don’t know what I did wrong but they turned out as little lemon cake circles. Good nonetheless. Definitely suggest this recipe if you do it right. Either way, it’s still delicious.

    Reply

    • Glad they tasted good at least. Next time you can try leaving out the extra egg yolk or increasing the butter 2 to 4 Tbsp to make them denser.

      Reply

  21. Can you make these w/o the extract and zest? Because at the moment I cannot find any lemons lying around my house. 🙂 Also, I just rediscovered your page and I <3 <3 <3 it as always! 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Val! So glad you found me again! You could make these without the extract and zest, but they won’t be very lemony. Most of the lemon flavor comes from those two ingredients. I like a really tangy lemon flavor though. If you like a hint of lemon, these might still work great with what you have on hand. Good luck!

      Reply

  22. Hi, Amber! I posted this recipe on my blog and gave credits to you and I put it in my own words. I used your picture but, I gave credits!

    Reply

  25. I just came across your blog and it didn’t take me long to sign up for the emails!!! I want to make these for a ladies tea this weekend but they want a lemon and lavender cookie. Could I put a light lavender glaze on these and sprinkle with fresh lavender without weighing down the wonderful soft texture?

    Reply

    • I think a light lavender glaze would work out perfectly! Just keep it thin and light. Let me know how they turn out! Thanks for subscribing LeeAnn!

      Reply

    • Hi Mary! This recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. I typically put the yield towards the top of the recipe card, so you know where to look for it next time. 🙂 I hope you love these!

      Reply

  27. My 21 year old daughter, ho is crazy for lemon cakes/cookies/deserts, emailed this recipe to me 3 days ago.
    I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so that I will have time to bake them. Today, finally came the weekend and I did! They came out so wonderful, lemony, with great texture, great aroma, and so easy to make !
    Thank you for this great recipe !

    Reply

  28. I have made cake mix cookies for several years and Lemon is one of my favorites. I also finish my Lemon cookies with a glaze made with Powdered Sugar, Lemon juice and zest with some Vegetable Oil.

    Reply

  31. Oh.my.yum!!!!! Words.fail.me…

    Add a little lemon-powdered sugar-half and half frosting and you have a recipe for being sick all night because I ate WAY more than I would EVER admit!
    Too bad my husband and kids came in…I could have eaten the whole batch!!!!

    Great recipe! Awesome job!!

    Reply

    • Well, I’m sorry you ate too many, but if you enjoyed them that much, I’m glad too. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback Lesa!

      Reply

  33. Just finished trying this recipe, turned out really good. I changed the quantities because I only wanted about half of what your recipe was making. So half butter, half sugar, half flour, half baking powder, but the same amount of eggs, zest and juice of one lemon instead of the extract and no food coloring.

    I used the egg white I had left to make meringue that I put on top of the baked cookies and broiled for 3 min. It make to cookies look even classier!

    Reply

  35. My daughter loves anything lemon. I made these last year at Christmas and about 5 times during the year. She loved them!!!!! I did add additional zest just for my daughter. I did use the recipe for the base for a fruit tart….rolled the dough, placed in a tart pan, baked, added lemon curd and fruit and baked a few more minutes. What a great dessert!!!!

    Reply

    • That’s strange. I’m sorry they didn’t spread for you. In the future, you can always use the bottom of a glass dipped in powdered sugar to flatten them before baking if you run into that problem again.

      Reply

    • For sure. Just double (x2) all the ingredients. So, 20 Tbsp butter is 2 1/2 sticks or 1 1/4 cups. Everything else should be fairly simple to double.

      Reply

    • For sure! I almost always have a bottle of lemon juice in my fridge at all times. I do love the addition of fresh lemon zest, but it will still work fine without it. Maybe do 2 tsp of lemon extract if you don’t use zest for that added punch of flavor.

      Reply

  39. Hi Amber. These sound so good. I’m going to make them tonight with lemons from my lemon tree!
    One question though… the cookies in your video are more “smooshed” looking than the cookies in the pictures on the blog. Did the video cookies get pressed down before or after baking?

    Reply

    • You actually shouldn’t have to press the cookies at all. I don’t but if you run into problems, dip the bottom of a cup in powdered sugar and press them halfway before baking. I hired out that particular video, so that’s why they look slightly different than the pictures. Good luck and enjoy!

      Reply

  40. Great, thanks.
    I made these yesterday, and they were very yummy. I put one batch on a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat, and one on parchment paper. The cookies on the parchment paper spread more (in a good way). I didn’t have lemon extract so I added a bit more lemon juice and zest. They weren’t quite as tart as I wanted, so I finished them with a glaze of lemon juice & a mix of ultrafine sugar and powdered sugar. It did the trick! It was a little thin, so it soaked nicely into the cookies without making them soggy/damp. Overall a success!! I brought them to a July 4 dinner last night and received several compliments and a request for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Thanks for sharing your experience Trixie! Glad you were able to alter the recipe with what you had on hand!

      Reply

  41. I make this cookies this morning and I have to said THEY ARE AMAZING !!!!! we love them and I will be making them for a very long time.
    Thank you.

    Reply

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