Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies — Big, bold lemon flavor packed into super soft cookies thanks to the cream cheese!! Tangy-sweet perfection! Lemon lovers are going to adore these easy cookies!!
Table of Contents
My daughter adores lemon desserts and I surprised her with these super soft, very lemony cookies.
The cookies are topped with a lemon glaze that adds to the pucker-up power and we couldn’t get enough of them.
Between the soft, slightly chewy cookies that are perfectly thick and ridiculously tender without being cakey courtesy of the cornstarch, and the wonderfully tangy-sweet glaze, the cookies are boldly lemony and lemon fans are going to be in lemon love.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make the lemon cream cheese cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Lemon extract
- Yellow food coloring
- Lemon zest
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
And to make the lemon glaze for the cookies, you’ll need:
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Fresh lemon juice and zest
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 Cream Cheese Cookies
Making soft lemon glazed cookies with cream cheese is quick and easy! Follow these basic steps:
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, make the lemon cookie dough.
- Once the cookie dough comes together, form approximately 18 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly. (You can use a large cookie scoop of a 1/4 cup measuring cup for this.)
- Place the cookie dough balls on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven.
- Once the cookies are done baking, let them cool completely before you drizzle over the lemon glaze.
LOVE these! Super tangy especially the glaze. I painted on the glaze with a basting brush and that worked better than drizzling for me. Also unlike most recipes these are generous size cookies so I think 1 batch could yield 24 instead of 18.
Kay
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you MUST chill the cookie dough. Do not bake with unchilled dough because the lemon cream cheese cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
Yes, you’re welcome to omit the food coloring if you don’t have any on hand or prefer not to use it. Just note that your lemon cream cheese cookies won’t be as vibrantly yellow as mine.
You need to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese in this recipe. Low-fat or whipped cream cheese won’t result in the correct taste or texture.
Cream cheese keeps the lemon cookies soft, moist, tender, and ironically it doesn’t make them taste like cream cheese. Rather it makes them taste more buttery.
Rather than adding lemon juice to the dough for lemon flavor, I use lemon extract and lemon zest. I’ve learned through trial and error that you get a bolder lemon flavor with extract, you don’t thin out or water down the batter, and without the possible complications that can come from incorporating a hefty dose of an acidic ingredient like lemon juice into sensitive dough.
However, I am a fan of lemon juice in glazes because it brings a bold intensity of flavor. The soft lemon cookies have a nice pop of lemon flavor on their own, but the lemon glaze and finishing sprinkle of lemon zest take them over the lemon edge.
Yes, you can make these lemon cheesecake cookies without the glaze, if desired. The cookies themselves are plenty lemony enough without the glaze!
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Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup cream cheese, softened (use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese not ‘spreadable’ or whipped cream cheese)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon extract, do not substitute with lemon juice
- yellow food coloring, optional and as desired
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, or 2 tablespoons if you want cookies very lemony
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency
- lemon zest, for garnishing
Instructions
- Make the Cookies
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) add the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, light, fluffy, and well combined, about 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, lemon extract, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and optionally add the yellow food coloring (as many drops as necessary until desired shade is achieved), the lemon zest, and beat on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or your hands, form approximately 18 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) and bake for about 8 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 completely before glazing. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
- Make the Glaze
- To a medium bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and whisk until smooth and combined. Depending on preference and desired glaze consistency, you may have to play with the sugar and lemon juice ratios slightly.
- Using a small spoon, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of glaze over each cookie, and spread glazeout using the back of the spoon. Repeat until all cookies are glazed.
- Sprinkle a small pinch of lemon zest over all cookies before the glaze sets and before serving.
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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More Lemon Dessert Recipes:
Lemon Crinkle Cookies — Lemon crinkles are pillowy soft on the inside and chewy on the outside, with slightly crispy edges from the powdered sugar coating! They taste like lemon bars, but in cookie form!
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!
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) — Took years but I finally recreated it! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good!!
Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread — This EASY, no-mixer homemade quick bread combines tangy lemon flavor with tender zucchini which keeps it so incredibly soft, tender, and moist!
Lemon Lemonies – Like brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
Lemon Olive Oil Cake — My new FAVORITE lemon dessert of all time!! Lemon zest, juice, extract, and Limoncello add so much AMAZING lemon flavor to this EASY, ridiculously moist no-mixer cake that’s unique and INCREDIBLE!!
Blueberry Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze – Almost more berries than cake in this soft, fluffy cake!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze — An easy little cake with big lemon flavor!! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up!
Originally posted June 12, 2015 and reposted March 26, 2021 with updated text.
I`ve had lemon cookies once and that was because my cousin try to past off the m&m cookies she mistakenly put lemon pudding instead of vanilla. But these cookies actually sound good. I can`t wait to make a bunch of lemon desserts this summer.
Lemon cookies are my favorite, too. I love how soft and chewy these look. Nothing better than this! :)
These look like the perfect lemon cookie. I love the flavor of lemon extract!!!
Hi Averie,
I love your collection of lemon deserts as I am a lover of all things lemons. I am wondering, however, if you have any lemon treats that are vegan?
Not as written but if you know how to veganize things, where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Can you use lemon oil instead of lemon extract?
I haven’t tried it that way and recommend sticking to the recipe so you know it turns out just right!
You know me – I love me some lemon desserts! They’re easily one of my favorite dessert flavors. Mm! These cream cheese cookies sound so awesome. I can’t wait to try them! The texture sounds incredible, and of course, the lemon flavor is a bonus!
Some of the best cookies I’ve made in ages! So refreshing…if a cookie can be refreshing :)
Lemon desserts are super awesome as you get both that lovely tang and dose of sweetness! Growing up lemon bars were always my favorite (and it still is one of my favorites). It’s no wonder that your daughter adores lemon dessert :) I haven’t really thought of adding cream cheese to the batter, and am surprised to hear that it gives it a buttery flavor! Now I’ll definitely have to try adding some to my next batch of cookies.
You can never go wrong with lemon!! Love these!
The entire time I was making them (and eating them!!) I was thinking of you b/c you are such a lemon lover! Omg these were good. Like…whoa. And I didnt think I was that into lemon :)
I have always thought I didn’t like lemon desserts until recently and now I’m obsessed! I want to make these ASAP! You take the best pictures of cookies too..they always look perfect!
I was honestly the same until a year or so ago. I started making them for my daughter b/c she has always adored them but lately, I’ve been bitten by the lemon bug too :)
Thanks for the cookie photo compliments. I think after 6+ years of mostly blogging about desserts and 2 cookbooks, the easiest thing for me is cookies. My savory stuff is still a work in progress!
I love lemon almost if not more than pineapple so you are really killing it this week with your recipes. These cookies look amazing…I can’t wait to make them…and I’m so happy I’m the only one that likes lemon in the house because they are going to be all mine…I just saw a pineapple recipe round up on Delish and I eye spied your pineapple upside down cake right away.
I honestly didn’t plan to have both of these yellow/citrusy/desserts back to back but the pineapple cake had a date I needed to have it go out on and then these cookies were not getting bumped around :) So glad that you’re happy and LMK what you make and how it goes!
Thanks for spying my cake on Delish, too!
Yum! I’m definitely going to be making these soon!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com
I’ve tried your cream cheese chocolate chip cookies and they were absolutely incredible! I love lemon desserts, too, so these are definitely on my to-make list :)
Thanks for trying the other cookies and if you love lemon, you’re going to love these just as much as those!
Love making cookies with cream cheese. They always come out perfectly soft! They look scrumptious!
Hi, I’m Taylor and I am a lemon ADDICT. I could eat it forever and always, especially in these supah soft cream cheese cookies! Looks amazing Averie – pinned!
Thanks for pinning! :)
I am wanting to bake a treat of some kind this weekend to celebrate the conclusion of our big landscaping project. Unfortunately it hasn’t actually concluded but should be by tomorrow…weather permitting. Any of your recipes would be amazing but something about these jumps out at me this morning. It’s getting pretty humid and temps are going up so lemon just sounds good.
Something about lemon is always a nice change of pace from chocolate, PB, caramel, etc. type of things…it’s just so refreshing! Congrats on your almost-done project!
Wow. These are the softest, fluffiest cookies I’ve seen in quite a while. And I’ve never done the whole cream cheese in cookies thing, so it’s time to start! Why have I waited so long? :)
You’re going to love the texture!