A spin on the classic sugar cookie, these Lemon Sugar Cookies are buttery, soft, and full of lemon flavor. These summery cookies have a delicious glaze on top, and are impressive to serve for all the things!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword lemon glaze, lemon sugar cookies
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 13 minutesminutes
Total Time 28 minutesminutes
Servings 18cookies
Calories 254kcal
Author Sue Ringsdorf
Ingredients
1cupunsalted butter- softened to room temperature
1 1/4cupgranulated sugar
1largeegg
1teaspoonvanilla
2Tablespoonslemon juice- freshly squeezed
2Tablespoonslemon zest
2 3/4cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonkosher salt
For the glaze:
2Tablespoonslemon juice- freshly squeezed
1 ⅓cuppowdered sugar
top with extra lemon zest
Instructions
(You'll need about three large lemons for this recipe.)
Prep lemons by zesting two large lemons. Then squeeze them to get some fresh lemon juice. You'll need two tablespoons of zest and two tablespoons of juice, plus more for the glaze.
In a large standing mixer, combine the butter and sugar and mix well. Then add in the egg, vanilla, and fresh lemon juice. Mix again.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Pour into the mixer with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Chill dough for at least an hour before baking. Then roll into about 18 even dough balls.
To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheet with parchment paper and place eight cookie balls on each tray. Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until they are slightly browned on the bottoms.
Let the cookies sit about 5-6 minutes before moving them to cooling racks. Then place on cooling racks to finish cooling.
Prepare glaze by mixing the fresh lemon juice with the powdered sugar. Drizzle the cookies with the glaze.
I recommend only glazing the cookies you plan to eat that day. These cookies are also delicious without the glaze! The glaze can be store in the refrigerator and then taken out and brought to room temp before glazing additional cookies.
Notes
To save flattened cookies: Take the cookies out of the oven before they are fully cooked (or when you see them getting flat). Use a spatula to gently push the sides of the cookies inward, reshaping the cookies. Place the cookies back in the oven and continue baking. Repeat as necessary.
Store lemon cookies in an airtight container on your kitchen counter for up to five days. It’s better to glaze only the cookies you plan to eat that day. But they are also delicious without the glaze
You can freeze the baked cookies (without glaze) for up to three months.
You can also freeze lemon cookie dough balls. Just roll the balls, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and do a quick-freeze for about 30 minutes. Then place the cookie balls in a freezer bag and place in freezer. These are good for about three months as well.
To bake frozen cookie dough balls, remove from freezer and place on cookie sheet. Bake as directed, but add a couple of minutes to baking time.