Light, tangy, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, soft lemon sugar cookies with a lemon glaze drizzle. Better than a bakery! If you love sugar cookies, see all of our recipes here.
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Lemon Sugar Cookies
If you know me at all, you know that I love my sweets. Mostly that means rich, chocolatey, desserts, filled with peanut butter, cookie dough, mint, Nutella, or some other crazy good combination. I have so many favorite dessert flavors. But, if I HAD to put them in a list, it would go something like this:
1: Peanut butter and chocolate/lemon/cookie dough/mint
2:?
3:?
4:?
Basically…I can’t decide.
If you’re wondering why lemon is up there with all the chocolate stuff, wonder no more. I love, love, LOVE lemon! Sometimes, depending on what mood I’m in, I’d rather have a sweet and tart lemon dessert than a Reese’s cake. Anyone else this way?
Cookies with Lemon Flavor
Lemon is a delicious flavor, and it’s not hard at all to conquer. You just need to know how to do it right. The cookies themselves only have a slight lemon flavor, mainly sweet. The flavor comes from a touch of lemon extract and lemon juice. We just used bottled lemon juice, but if you have a lemon, I’d definitely squeeze 1/2 tablespoon of juice. There’s nothing like fresh lemon juice.
Lemon Glaze for Cookies
The glaze over the top is what brings out the lemon flavor in a HUGE way. It’s tangy. It’s sweet. It’s lemon. With a few simple ingredients, you can bring these cookies to a whole new level. The glaze isn’t mandatory of course, but trust me. You want it.
These plain cookies are perfectly amazing, even though the glaze gives them more flair. These cookies are like our other sugar cookie recipe we have on the blog, but these are slightly adapted into what we think is the perfect sugar cookie. They’ve got a sort of crispness on the outside, and a warm, soft, center. And they stay soft, even after they’ve cooled. Biting into a sugar cookie is what comfort tastes like. And when it’s lemon flavored… well, let’s just say that you can’t get much better than that!
If you want, you can make these cookies a little smaller and serve them at a party or a get together. I would just make sure to check them in the oven earlier, because they might take less time to bake. Just think of how cute these mini cookies would be with the little sprinkles on top!! Be warned, though, you might want to make a lot. These Lemon Sugar Cookies are so addicting they’ll disappear before you know it!
OTHER SUGAR COOKIE RECIPES
- Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies
- Lofthouse Style Sugar Cookies
- Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Almond Sugar Cookies
- Refrigerated Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Sprinkles , optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, lemon extract and juice. Gradually blend in dry ingredients.
- Roll dough into 1-1/2" inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Take a glass and dampen the bottom of it with water. Dip the bottom of a cup in a small bowl of granulated sugar, then slightly flatten the top of each cookie with the bottom of the glass.
- Refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes. To keep the cookies soft, they should not be browned. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle the glaze on the cooled cookies. Sprinkle with colored sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the glaze to set, then store the cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Jenn says
July 11, 2016 at 5:09 pmI followed the recipe to the letter but my dough was so crumbly I couldn’t keep it together. I had to add another 1/4 cup of melted butter and tablespoon of milk just to get it soft enough to stay together.
And what kind of sugar is the glass supposed to be dipped in? Powdered sugar or granulated? Did you dip the cup in water first to get granulated sugar to stick?
Those were just a few holes I found in the recipe when I was making it.
Julie Clark says
July 12, 2016 at 6:59 amThanks for your feedback! Yes, I do dip the cup in water first to get the sugar to stick. And it is granulated sugar. I’m not sure about the crumbly part…I’ll have to remake this and measure out by grams how much flour. The only thing I can think is that maybe you added a bit too much. We’ve made this so many times with no issues. I’m trying to learn to measure ingredients by weight so readers don’t have this issue. Thanks for the extra push to do so! 🙂
Lugo says
August 1, 2016 at 10:43 pmCould you clarify the amount of flour?
Julie Clark says
August 2, 2016 at 7:37 amSorry those numbers got squished together! I added a space to make it read more clearly. 2 and 3/4 cups flour. 🙂
Caroline says
January 11, 2019 at 3:38 pmI’ve made a similar recipe for years but with finely grated lemon rind and squeezed juice from the lemon I grate. It’s a little more work but it’s worth it.