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These simple Lemon Sugar Cookies are soft and chewy and with the perfect amount of citrus to bring some sunshine to your day. 10 minutes to prep and no chilling necessary–this easy chewy lemon cookie recipe will be a new favorite for the whole family!
I am very much a boredom baker, and that’s how these simple lemon sugar cookies came to be. When I am stuck in the house–I bake.
These Birthday Cake Sugar Cookies were also a bit of a stuck inside kind of boredom recipe–but no one has complained just yet!
Love refreshing and lemony dessert recipes? Try these other favorites as well: Blueberry Lemon Dump Cake, No-Bake Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, Champagne Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe, Almond Flour Orange Cookies, or these Key Lime Cookies!
Why We Love These Lemon Sugar Cookies
I don’t consider myself much of a baker aside from some cookie recipes here and there and maybe a simple pie or cake, but not much else.
But these lemon cookies have been a HUGE favorite on the site for almost 10 years. They are sure to be a quick favorite for you as well!
These lemon sugar cookies are:
- so soft and chewy–just the way I love any cookie recipe!
- refreshing and have a vibrant lemon flavor
- very easy to make–quick prep with no chill time
- freezer friendly–baked cookies or cookie dough can be frozen
Ingredient Notes
- butter: I use unsalted, softened butter in my cookies. If you aren’t sure if your butter is softened, gently press your finger into it and see if it leaves a small indentation but is also still cool to touch. To speed up this process, cut the butter into smaller pieces. I don’t recommend using a microwave at all to move things along.
- sugar: divided, 3/4 cup for the dough and 1/4 cup for rolling.
- brown sugar: I prefer light brown sugar, adds a touch of chewiness to your cookies
- vanilla: you could use 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 lemon extract for an even stronger lemon flavor if preferred.
- egg yolk: a large egg yolk at room temperature for best results. The egg yolk makes these lemon cookies extra chewy and gives them that crinkle versus using a whole egg which makes them a touch more cakey in the center.
- lemon zest: measure this with your heart–all the lemon zest and more for me!
- flour: all purpose flour, stirred to aerate, spooned and leveled
- baking soda and powder: PLEASE make sure your baking soda and powder are fresh. Not sure if they are? You can test to make sure!
I typically have every single one of these ingredients in the house. And if I am missing something, it is almost always the lemon zest. I have most certainly made these without the lemon zest as just regular sugar cookies and they have been delicious as well.
One reader said she used lime zest instead of lemon and loved those. What about orange? Lots of options if you are out!
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars. When you cream the butter and sugars, the mixture should be light and almost fluffy. The sugars will be fully incorporated into each other. Don’t skimp on this part–it can take about 2-4 minutes. You are aerating the butter and creating tiny pockets of air that will be the difference of a nice, light and chewy cookie versus a flat, dense cookie. Take the time! (steps 1 and 2)
- Add in the lemon zest, vanilla and egg. Using a hand or standing mixer, beat to fully incorporate the egg. (steps 3 and 4)
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. (steps 5 and 6)
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and beat to incorporate. Toward the end, it may seem a bit crumbly or dry, but don’t worry, this is ok. Press the dough together to form a ball. Chill at this time if desired. It can help the cookies spread less. (steps 7, 8 and 9)
- Scoop the dough with a cookie scoop or roll into balls and then roll into the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place on a cookie sheet ( I typically line mine with parchment.) and bake for about 9-11 minutes. Take them out when they are just barely starting to get a light brown around the edges. Don’t over bake these. Allow to cool before enjoying. Or if you are like me, you will scald yourself eating one the second you pull them out. Oh, such is life, right? (steps 10, 11 and 12)
Do you need to chill the cookie dough before baking?
I find sugar cookie dough is best when chilled to help keep any extra spreading, however these lemon sugar cookies are still okay even if I don’t chill. If your cookies are spreading a lot, it typically means your butter was softened too much and is making the dough too warm, or the flour was measured incorrectly and is less than needed. Expired baking soda and powder can also cause the same issue.
If I do chill this cookie dough, I only do about 15-30 minutes, but that doesn’t always happen. As long as you don’t over soften the butter and measure your flour well, you should be fine without chilling.
Recipe Tips
Always, always always make sure to cream your butter and sugar well enough. Do not skimp on the time. This seems to be where I get myself in trouble when trying to cut corners. Creaming helps give the cookies the right dense texture.
Speaking of butter, softened butter is not that warm. It will not look greasy or shiny and still hold shape quite well. The internal temperature should be about 65°F-67°F which is much cooler than some may think. Over-warming your butter can result in thin cookies that spread a lot–no one wants that!
Check to make sure your baking powder and baking soda are both fresh. Expired leavening agents can cause issues when trying to bake. Keep them fresh!
Make sure not to over bake these lemon sugar cookies. When you pull them out, you may think they are not quite ready yet, but they should be perfect that way.
Depending on the size you make these, you will get about 12-15 cookies. If you make them much smaller you may even get closer to 18. I use a cookie scoop and press the dough into the scoop nicely to get a dense cookie.
FAQs and Troubleshooting:
This could be a matter of over baking. They will come out more on the crispy end if you leave them in the oven too long. When you think these lemon sugar cookies are almost there, then they are actually probably ready to be taken out.
You will notice the cookies will still be puffed up a bit and just starting to crinkle. I take them out at that point and love the texture. If you like crispy cookies, then feel free to keep them in a bit longer as well!
Two possible things for this issue. One, your dough is too warm. If your cookie dough dips below room temperature, the cookie dough is not cool enough.
Cooler dough has more solidified fat (from the butter) that takes longer to spread as it is baked. Once the cookie dough becomes too warm, the fat is not longer fully solid and will spread out and bake quickly. Pop the dough in the fridge for 15-30 minutes and then get back to it!
The other possibility here is that your baking powder or baking soda are not fresh. If your leavening agents are bad, you will have some flat and even thin cookies for sure.
This is often the result of too much flour. Flour can be tricky to measure and should not be packed into measuring cups like brown sugar or other ingredients. I like to stir my flour a bit with a spoon before measuring to aerate it a bit. This tends to help.
Other Cookies and Treats
- Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Eggless Sugar Cookies
- Gluten Free Blondies
- Rosemary Orange Almond Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies
- Cream Cheese Snowballs
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Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup), unsalted
- 1⅓ cups flour *see note below, (167g)** see notes if doubling recipe!
- ¾ cup sugar , (160 g)**
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar, (18 g)**
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2-3 Tbsp lemon zest
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup sugar, for coating, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk together to combine.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand or standing mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar and 3/4c sugar until light and fluffy. (about 2-3 minutes or so). Add in egg, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined.
- Slowly pour in the dry ingredients and beat just until combined–do not over mix. (Chill for about 30 minutes if desired.) Roll cookie dough into about 1 1/2 inch balls or scoop with a 1½ T cookie scoop and roll in sugar if desired (add sugar into a small bowl first.) and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking pan.
- Bake 9-11 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.(ha–right, I burn my tongue every time)
- Store in an air tight container or freeze.
Video
Notes
- doubled recipe: 334 g flour, 320 g sugar, 36 g brown sugar
- tripled recipe: 501 g flour, 480 g sugar, 54 g brown sugar
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I would recommend using 1tsp of lemon zest or just lemon juice. I used 1 tbsp and not even the called for 2-3 tbsp and ALL I can taste is lemon rind.
Make sure when you are zesting the lemon you are not getting the white part of the peel into the mix–that can lead to more of a bitter lemon flavor. I have had many readers make this and opt for the 3 tbsp of lemon zest even so I guess it’s just a personal preference!
I want to make this recipe to take to a friend’s that loves lemon sugar cookies.I don’t have one lemon in this house can I use lemon juice?
Hi! I have not tested with just lemon juice but I know a few readers have added it with luck–I imagine just the lemon juice will have much less lemon flavor though in the end.