Lemon Cookies

These delectable Iced Lemon Cookies are soft inside with slightly chewy, crispy edges, all topped with a four-ingredient, light, sweet lemon glaze. These spring and summer-friendly cookies are perfect for Easter, barbecues, picnics, potlucks, and baby showers.

Calling all lemon lovers. Try this simple, tasty lemon cookie recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth. You can whip up a batch of these delectable treats in no time with just a few ingredients. These fun and family-friendly cookies are a cinch to pull together. I love to serve these at my summer parties with cream cheese brownies, Texas sheet cake, strawberry rhubarb crisp, and blueberry cobbler.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete ingredients on the recipe card below.

• Butter: Unsalted or salted. If using salted, omit the added salt from the recipe.
• Lemons: Use fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, as fresh lemons are flavor-packed and make quite the difference.
• Vanilla Extract: Use the pure stuff, please.
• Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar.
• Milk: Use whole or 2% milk.

How to Make Lemon Cookies

This is a summary; for the full list of ingredients and instructions, see the recipe card below.

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and mix until combined.
3. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
4. Use a cookie scoop to place the dough on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
5. Bake for 10 minutes and cool.
6. Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and milk.
7. Spoon the icing over the fully cooled cookies.

Cook’s Tips

• Preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes and cover the baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• Whip the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes on medium using a mixer or stand mixer.
• These cookies spread, so leave a couple of inches between them when baking,
• Make the first batch a test run. Bake one or two cookies. This lets you test the baking time. If the dough spreads too much, refrigerate for about 40 minutes and try again.
• These cookies work well scooped with a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop, but you can also roll them into about a one-inch ball by hand.
• If possible, ice the cookies the same day you bake them, as it helps keep the cookie’s texture soft.
• If the icing is too thick, add ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice at a time to thin it; if it is too thin, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time to thicken it.

How to Freeze this Lemon Cookie Dough

If you plan on baking the whole batch of cookies off sometime in the near future, freeze it in a solid mass wrapped with several layers of plastic wrap and place it in a freezer-safe container. Or put it in a double-wrapped freezer zipper bag. The dough freezes well for up to 3 months. To thaw, put it in the fridge for a couple of days, until soft enough to scoop or roll.

If you plan to bake them in small portions, scoop them onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Then, place them in the freezer until the balls are frozen. This technique is commonly called flash freezing. Place the balls in a freezer bag, then put that bag inside another freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, place the frozen cookie balls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone mats. Let them sit and thaw while the oven preheats. Calculate the amount of icing you need by estimating the percentage of cookies you have baked off. Prepare that percentage of icing and ice fully cooled cookies.

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