Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies — 🍋👏🏻 Packed with big, bold lemon flavor for all you lemon lovers! They’re soft, chewy and not at all cakey!
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Best Lemon Cookies EVER!
If you like lemon, you’re going to love these cookies. They’re soft, chewy, and packed with bold lemon flavor.
These easy lemon cookies pack a powerful lemon punch, they’re soft and dense rather than cakey, they’re thick enough to sink your teeth into, and I love that they’re crinkly.
For robust lemon flavor, I used lemon three ways: extract, zest, and juice. If you wanted to intensify that, glaze them and sprinkle with zest. I didn’t find it necessary, but you may.
Although there’s plenty of intense lemon flavor, the cookies are sweet enough that you’ll keep going back for one more. And one more. Good thing it’s a small batch recipe that makes one dozen.
Ingredients in Lemon Cookies
To make this easy recipe for lemon cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Lemon extract
- Lemon juice and zest
- Honey
- Yellow food coloring (optional)
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Baking soda
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Lemon Cookies
My daughter is a lemon fan like no one else. She eats lemon wedges like they’re orange wedges and reaches into water glasses for the lemon and helps herself. She’s loved these and asked when I’m making them again — high approval from my little lemon connoisseur!
Here’s an overview of how the soft lemon cookies are prepared:
- Cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and lemon extract.
- Add in the lemon zest, honey, and optional food coloring, followed by the dry ingredients.
- Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the cookie dough into balls and chill for at least 3 hours.
- Once the cookie dough has chilled, bake until the edges have set and the tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center.
- Let these lemon cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Recipe Tips
The yellow food coloring is totally optional. I used 1 teaspoon gel food coloring; add drops or gel to desired shade. One teaspoon gel makes the batter quite yellow, but it mellows slightly after adding the dry ingredients.
Be sure to add the lemon juice directly on top of the baking soda. It will bubble and foam, which means the baking soda has been activated and this is good — if your baking soda doesn’t bubble, it’s old and expired.
Don’t try to swap out the lemon juice for lemon extract or vice versa. You need both! When comparing lemon juice vs lemon extract, lemon juice has a less concentrated lemon flavor and is very acidic whereas lemon extract has a very potent lemon flavor. I like to use both for extra lemon flavor and freshness.
Recipe FAQs
To keep the cookies soft and dense, there’s a tablespoon of honey in the dough. Honey is hydroscopic (attracts water) so it helps the cookies stay softer, moister, and denser without turning cakey.
The 2 teaspoons of cornstarch help keep cookies softbatch-style soft. I’ve got 20 other cornstarch cookie recipes showcasing what a great little trick it is.
No, the cornstarch is what makes the lemon cookies so soft and chewy.
If you want to glaze the tops of these chewy lemon cookies, I’d recommend making my Glazed Cream Cheese Lemon Cookies instead. They’re super thick, so they can handle a healthy drizzle of lemon glaze.
No, you must use actual lemon extract to make these homemade lemon cookies. Do NOT use lemon oil and lemon extract interchangeably because oil is much more potent and intense.
Also, do NOT add extra lemon juice and omit the lemon extract. Lemon juice isn’t as strong in flavor and because it’s acidic it may alter the texture of the cookie dough.
Yes, you MUST chill the dough for a minimum of 3 hours. Do not bake with unchilled dough because the cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and will be more prone to spreading.
Yes, simply double all the ingredients.
Storage Instructions
Note that these soft lemon cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Can I Freeze the Raw Cookie Dough?
Yes! Roll the dough into balls and freeze. You can bake them straight from frozen, no need to thaw first!
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Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon honey
- yellow food coloring, optional and as desired
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- confectioners’ sugar for dusting or lemon glaze + lemon zest, optional
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, lemon extract, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, light, fluffy, and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the lemon zest, honey, optional food coloring, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. I used 1 teaspoon gel food coloring; add drops or gel to desired shade. One teaspoon gel makes the batter quite yellow but it mellows slightly after adding the dry ingredients.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, cornstarch, optional salt, and baking soda (keep the baking soda in a nice little mound rather than sprinkling it).
- Add the lemon juice directly on top of the baking soda. It will bubble and foam, which means the baking soda has been activated and this is good; if your soda doesn’t bubble it’s old and expired. Beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake or undersides could become too browned. Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
- Optionally, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Or, for increased lemon intensity, make the lemon glaze and then sprinkle with additional lemon zest.
Video
Notes
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally posted on August 25, 2014 and reposted on June 24, 2020 with updated text.
Hi, Averie! I’m planning to make a double batch of these this weekend so I can send half to my Dad and freeze the other half. What are the instructions for baking the cookies after they are frozen? Do they need to thaw first? Or can they be baked straight from the freezer (adding a minute or two to the baking time)? Thanks!
Or can they be baked straight from the freezer (adding a minute or two to the baking time) <--- YES THIS! Enjoy!
Delicious! And because I feel the need to gild every darned lily, I added a single dark chocolate chip to the center of each cookie before glazing. Tastes great and looks adorable! Once again, Averie, your recipes are awesome
Delicious! And because I feel the need to gild every darned lily, I added a single dark chocolate chip to the center of each cookie before glazing. Tastes great and looks adorable! Once again, Averie, your recipes are awesome
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these turned out delicious for you!
SO chewy. I added a smidge extra of… well, all the lemony components lol. They turned out great! I’ve never used corn starch or honey in cookies before, but I will definitely be integrating them into other baking. So underrated
Thanks for the five star review and glad you loved these and now know the wonders of cornstarch in baking!
SO chewy. I added a smidge extra of… well, all the lemony components lol. They turned out great! I’ve never used corn starch or honey in cookies before, but I will definitely be integrating them into other baking. So underrated
This recipe was great. I missed the part about chilling the dough but they still came out great. We will definitely make them again…and again.
Thanks for the five star review and glad you will make them again and again, and that not chilling the dough didn’t effect them negatively!
This recipe was great. I missed the part about chilling the dough but they still came out great. We will definitely make them again…and again.
Made these this afternoon because we have an abundance of lemons on our trees. Delivered them to friends and neighbors in our current lockdown situation. I actually put a single blueberry in the middle of each one and drizzled them with glaze. They were a huge hit! I will be making them again, maybe tomorrow, for more neighbors. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad they were a huge hit! I have a lemon tree in my yard but it’s tiny. Maybe in 20 years it will be where yours is at :) I am sure your neighbors absolutely adored your kindness!
Made these this afternoon because we have an abundance of lemons on our trees. Delivered them to friends and neighbors in our current lockdown situation. I actually put a single blueberry in the middle of each one and drizzled them with glaze. They were a huge hit! I will be making them again, maybe tomorrow, for more neighbors. Thank you for the recipe!
Could you please tell me the recipe with the exact grams that we need from each product? It would help me if you told me especially how many grams of butter you mean by 1/2 cup 😂 thanks in advance!
I would use a conversion with an online calculator tool. I don’t write my recipes in grams.
1/2 c butter is 113 grams. I Googled that, very easy.
Hi, am super interested to try this out but can I substitute the butter for oil? And if so, how much? Thanks!
I have never made these cookies with oil so not sure how that would work out. I suggest making with butter for best results.
These are tasty, but not as strong with lemon flavor as I had hoped. Not bad, but not my favorite recipe for lemon cookies.
These are tasty, but not as strong with lemon flavor as I had hoped. Not bad, but not my favorite recipe for lemon cookies.
This is my second time for making these. The first time they turned out perfect! This time I added 1/2 tsp yellow food coloring but it turned the dough orange. The dough itself was extremely wet this time. Not sure why since I followed the recipe. The dough was in the frig overnight and after baking they were flat and orange. I’ll try one more time without the food coloring but don’t think that would have made the difference with the wet dough.
I don’t think the food coloring would have made the difference either. However, you never know.
Extremely wet dough is usually a result of lack of flour. If the dough was tacky, sticky, moist, it needed more flour. From day to day, flour amounts can vary given the humidity in the air. Generally not hugely in a batch of cookies like this, maybe 1/4 cup, but use your judgment and if it seems to need more flour, add it.
That is the thing about baking…sometimes things turn out perfectly but other times you swear you did the same thing, but the results are not the same. Hopefully it was the food coloring and now you can just avoid it.
a GF of mine just made these and raved about them. Could you double the recipe or does that throw off the ratios? thanks; i look forward to making these!
If you double everything in the recipe, yes you can make a double batch.
I have never made this recipe with GF flour so cannot speak to results on that.
When Norsearcher states “a GF of mine”, doesn’t this mean girlfriend and not a type of flour?
I don’t know what/where you are referring to.
If you are asking about gluten free options, I have never tried and have only made the recipe with all-purpose flour.
These. cookies were awesome, they were sooo delicious. I made this recipe today and i didnt read the part that said it should be in the fridge for 3 hours and i didnt have time to wait so i made them straight away and i didnt have any problems, they were perfect. I decided to leave them for exactly 10 minutes, no more, and that was a very good choice because they are the perfect chewiness, they are soft but crispy on the sides- amazing!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they were awesome, even without chilling them!