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soft lemon sugar cookies stacked on wood board.
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Soft Lemon Cookies

These lemon sugar cookies are bursting with lemon flavor – and with less than 10 ingredients and 15 minutes prep time, whip up a batch of these easy cookies today!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Chill1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 18 cookies
Calories: 131kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened, see notes for using salted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling, optional
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest from 2 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour 187g
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt

Instructions

  • Using a standing mixer with a beater attachment, or a hand held mixer with a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Mix in egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. It might look separated or curdled, this is normal. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary to make sure everything is incorporated.
  • Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined, do not over mix.
  • Chill dough in the refrigerator 30-60 minutes.
  • While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • When ready to bake, spoon or drop 1-2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet.
  • If desired, sprinkle extra granulated sugar on top of the balls of cookie dough.
  • Bake one cookie sheet a time for 9-11 minutes until the edges just start to lightly brown. Try not to overbake to keep the cookies nice and soft.
  • Remove the cookie tray from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes.
  • Once they’ve started to firm up, move the cookies to cooling rack. Let cool and enjoy!

Notes

  • If using salted butter, decrease added salt to 1/4 tsp.
  • When zesting, try to only get the yellow part of the lemon as the white part can be bitter.
  • Measure your flour correctly by weighing or using the spoon and swipe method of spooning the flour into the measure cups and swiping the excess off the top with a knife.  
  • Adding extra sugar to these cookies is optional, but adds a nice texture and slight crinkle to the top of the cookies. 
  • A small ice cream scoop makes scooping the cookie dough onto the pan really easy and creates even sized cookies. 
  • This recipe makes about 18 cookies can easily be halved or doubled.  
  • The cookie will last up to a week in an airtight container and can be frozen up to a month. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cookie | Calories: 131kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg