This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
With over 1.5 million views and counting, this lemon sugar cookies recipe is one of the most popular cookie recipes on my website, and for good reason! These soft lemon sugar cookies can be made with one bowl, are thick, chewy and easy to freeze.
Literally the most amazing recipe. As an 11 year old that has little experience on baking they turned out amazing! My mum brought them at work so that she can give some to her co-workers and they wanted the recipe! One of the best recipes I’ve made!
-Teddy
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies
I spent a whole week baking lemon cookies. The first batch failed miserably. The cookies were paper thin and see through!!
The batches got better as I made small tweaks to the recipe. By the time I was happy with the recipe, I had made it 5 times – that’s about 2 dozen cookies per batch, or 120 cookies in total!
Ryan took a lot of those with him to work. He said a few coworkers asked him if we had an industrial sized oven!
Why This Recipe is the Best
- Common pantry ingredients
- Great recipe for beginngers
- Chewy & soft cookies
- Bright, fresh, real lemon flavor
This lemon cookie recipe is chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. And they are just puffy enough! And the lemon flavor is everything you’d want it to be in a cookie. The fresh lemon zest really gives them a bright lemon flavor.
They are one of my favorite lemon desserts to make with whenever we have fresh lemons.
They follow similar steps as classic sugar cookies where you cream butter and white sugar together in a medium bowl. Add the remaining wet ingredients, including plenty of lemon zest. Then add in the flour mixture and use a hand mixer to gently combine.
Roll into balls and bake on parchment paper or a silicone mat. They turn out to be the best chewy lemon cookies!
Lemon Cookie Ingredients
- unsalted butter – adds flavor and and tender texture
- granulated sugar – adds sweetness, flavor and encourages browning
- lemon zest and lemon juice – adds that fresh lemon flavor
- egg – binds the cookies together by providing structure
- all purpose flour – flour is necessary to build structure in cookies
- baking soda – helps to leaven and lift the dough, affects browning and flavor
- salt – enhances the other flavors in the cookies
Where’s the extract?
You can add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you’d like a more intense lemon flavor (hello lemon lovers) add 1 teaspoon lemon extract.
Lemon Cookie Recipe Variations
I have made these cookies multiple times with King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour with great success.
How to Make Lemon Cookies
- Cream together. In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest together on medium speed.
2. Mix in. Add in the fresh lemon juice and egg, beat again until smooth.
3. Dry ingredients. Gently add in the dry ingredients, mixing on low or by hand just until combined.
4. Refrigerate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
5. Scoop. Use a cookie scoop to form dough balls, roll the balls in sugar then place on a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Bake and Cool.
Time Required
- 10 minutes to make the cookie dough
- 30-60 minutes to chill the dough in the fridge
- 11-13 minutes to bake the cookies
- 15 minutes to cool the cookies
How to Store Lemon Sugar Cookies
Store lemon sugar cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
How to Freeze Lemon Cookie Dough
Drop cookie dough balls onto a silicone mat lined baking sheet. You can place the dough balls close together since you won’t be baking them.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer until the cookies are frozen solid, about 1 hour.
Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a ziplock freezer bag. Label the bag with baking directions.
Freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
To bake: remove the dough from the freezer. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Roll the balls in sugar and bake for 13-15 minutes. Frozen cookies may need to bake for 1-2 minutes longer than non frozen cookies.
Tips for Making Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Properly measure the all purpose flour using the spoon and sweep method.
- Use room temperature butter for easier creaming of the butter and sugar.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes. I’m telling you, this helps to make the best thick & chewy cookies!
- Use a cookie scoop to form cookie dough balls.
- Bake cookies on a silicone baking mat.
Our lemony cookies have a chewy texture that is to die for! They complement our soft sugar cookies really well.
Lemon Cookies Recipe FAQs
The King Arthur website explains, “Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread.”
Refrigerating the cookie dough will help produce cookies that are chewier and softer because they won’t spread as much.
But I get it. Sometimes I really dislike chilling dough. So here’s my suggestion – if you can fit it in, refrigerate the dough, even for 15 minutes.
If not, at least refrigerate the dough between baking batches. For example, if you can fit 8 cookies on one baking sheet, bake those and put the dough in the fridge while you’re waiting.
It’s important to properly measure the flour to ensure the cookies are moist and not dry. Follow the section How To Properly Measure Flour. Also be sure to bake the cookies for the proper amount of time. Over-baking will produce dry cookies.
Sugar cookies can become hard if they are over-baked. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven as soon as the cookies have set and developed a bit of color. We do not want the edges of the cookies to brown.
This specific recipe does require that you refrigerate the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes before baking. Refrigerating the cookie dough will help produce cookies that are chewier and softer because they won’t spread as much.
The main difference between a sugar cookie and a regular cookie lies in their ingredients and flavor profile. Sugar cookies are primarily made with a higher proportion of sugar and butter, resulting in a sweeter and more delicate taste. Regular cookies, on the other hand, have a more balanced combination of ingredients like sugar, butter, flour, eggs, and often include mix-ins like chocolate chips, oats, or nuts, leading to a broader range of flavors and textures.
Love these so much. Perfect amount of lemon flavor. They were a hit with my coworkers!
-Alexis
More Dessert Recipes
Tap stars to rate!
Lemon Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (50g) sugar, for rolling cookies
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes.1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, 1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar, 3 Tbsp lemon zest
- Add in the lemon juice and egg, beat again to combine.2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 large egg
- Gradually add in the flour, baking soda and salt, mixing by hand with a spatula until combined.3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl for rolling the cookies.1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- Use a cookie scoop to form balls, rolling each ball into the sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a silicone lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the edges have a faint golden color.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Love these so much. Perfect amount of lemon flavor. They were a hit with my coworkers!
these were SOOO good omg. im always a bit skeptical with online recipes after a couple to many having runny doughs or being to dry, but these were PERFECT. sweet with that tangy lemon flavor, chewy soft with a light crisp on the outside. making them was so simple too, i will definitely be making them again. Only issue I had, I wasn’t really sure how many lemons were needed? Mine were kinda small so i added the zest of 2 lemons and the juice of 1, turned out perfect for me. Can definitely recommend. They were an absolute hit at work.
I LOVE how your recipe tells the amounts of each ingredient in the instructions!! Thank you so much. I wish all recipes had this. Otherwise it’s scrolling up and down constantly!
I’m excited to try these!
I love the amounts under the instructions! This recipe was VERY easy and good. Instead of using a scoop, I used a teaspoon and hand formed the cookies as I don’t have a special scoop, and it made FIVE DOZEN😃. I needed alot of cookies and this worked perfectly. I cooked them for 11 min. Thank you for sharing!!
Made these for a bake sale! They were an absolute hit! So easy to make too 🍋.
Me and my family loved these. I added a little bit of lemon glaze on top and they were soo good!