These soft and chewy cookies are perfect for lemon lovers everywhere with just the right amount of bright citrus flavor and a sweet lemon glaze. The best part? They are faster and easier to make than most lemon desserts! The texture is similar to chewy sugar cookies and the fresh taste makes this one of the best summer cookie recipes.

Tools

For this easy lemon cookie recipe, you will want a Microplane or fine grater and if you don’t have a stand mixer, don’t worry! You can also use a large bowl and a hand mixer for this recipe! I also always recommend a cookie scoop for uniformly-sized cookies and even baking but it is definitely not required.

I also recommend parchment paper because it also helps cookies bake evenly and really helps with easy clean-up! My favorite parchment paper is compostable and comes in pre-cut sheets. I’ll use an actual roll of parchment when I’m in a pinch but I always seem to struggle to get the right size!

Ingredients

Real, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest bring a natural lemon flavor and Cointreau (or your favorite orange liquor) adds an extra citrus burst (without a noticeably orange flavor). The butter and vanilla extract gives a warmth that balances these tart flavors. If you prefer to skip the liquor, use lemon extract or orange extract instead.

Because this recipe requires only simple ingredients, quality is key. I often bake with KAMUT® White Flour because it is higher in nutrients and protein, naturally lower in gluten, and tastes better than regular or traditional wheat flour. KAMUT® Brand Wheat is still wheat so it’s not recommended for anyone with Celiac disease or a wheat allergy but many people with a wheat intolerance can actually enjoy KAMUT® Wheat (learn more here). That being said, feel free to use your favorite high-quality flour. I’ve included measurements for both KAMUT® White Flour and White all-purpose flour in this recipe.

I use unsalted butter in this recipe but, if you only have salted on hand, just reduce the added salt by half (for this recipe, use ¼ teaspoon of salt instead of ½ if you are using salted butter)! I also use cold butter for the majority of my cookie recipes. I do this because I can shorten (or eliminate) dough chill time and I can make cookies anytime – no need to wait for the butter to come to room temperature! Now, I will be completely honest – I put a lot more wear and tear on my tilt-head stand mixer with my cold butter habit so I only recommend this method if you have a high-power or bowl-lift stand mixer. If you are using a tilt-head mixer or hand mixer, use softened butter instead. I’ve made notes for each option in the recipe.

I also use cold eggs in most of my cookie recipes and I think you’re fine to do so whether or not you are using cold butter. The reason room temperature ingredients are often recommended for baking is so that everything blends well. I find this is much more important in more delicate recipes (like a cupcake for example) but I don’t have trouble blending cookie dough with cold eggs and I don’t notice a quality difference in cookies made with cold vs room temperature eggs.

Technique

Line 2 trays with parchment paper and set aside. To make these soft lemon cookies, start with the dry ingredients. Whisk or use a dough hook to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set flour mixture aside.

Lemon Glazed Cookies lemon juice and lemon zest

Cream butter and both sugars with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. When this mixture is smooth, add eggs one at a time, vanilla and orange liquor, and/or citrus extract of choice. Mix between each addition. Finally, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and do not worry if the mixture almost looks a bit curdled at this point.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. I add all of the dry ingredients in one batch but if you’re working with a smaller mixing bowl or mixer (or just worried about flour all over your kitchen!), add in a few batches.

Place 8 cookies on each cookie sheet and getting evenly-sized cookies is made so much easier with the use of a cookie scoop! Some ice cream scoops or muffin scoops will work as well. If using a cookie scoop, first spray with non-stick cooking spray so cookie dough easily releases onto the tray.

Chill scooped lemon cookie dough on trays for 30 minutes before you bake and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake these chewy lemon cookies for 16-18 minutes and rotate and swap trays halfway through bake time. Cookies are done when they are just starting to turn golden brown at the bottom edges of the cookies. Place trays directly on the cooling rack and make the glaze while the cookies start to cool.

Finishing Touches

Much like popular lemon crinkle cookies, these chewy lemon cookies include a powdered sugar topping but, this time, in the form of a lemon glaze. One touch that makes these the best lemon cookies is the use of fresh lemons in both the cookie dough and in the glaze.

Be sure to sift powdered sugar to remove any clumps before you mix with the lemon zest and lemon juice. You will use up to one small lemon for the juice but add little by little and whisk with each addition until you get a consistency that is easy to drizzle over the cookies. I’ve made both a thicker and a thinner glaze for this recipe and both result in a delicious cookie!

Once the cookies have cooled enough to handle, transfer them from the baking sheet to an easy-to-clean wire rack on a large piece of wax or parchment paper.

Using any spoon, drizzle about ¾ of a tablespoon of glaze over each cookie. Any style of glaze works here! If your glaze is a bit thinner, run it over the middle of the cookie so it will spread over the top. If you have a thicker glaze, you’ll be able to see the fun design of the glaze so run the spoon back and forth over the top in a zig-zag motion to get the desired effect.

After drizzling glaze over each cookie, let them finish cooling until the glaze has set.