Guys, would you believe that these are the first lemon cookies that I’ve baked? I don’t count the lemon bars (because they’re “bar cookies”).
I’m not drawn to lemon desserts, even though I do enjoy them, so I guess they’re just not on my mind. However, with it being time for Spring and Easter celebrations I knew that a lemon cookie would be the perfect addition to a cookie platter. Here enters these heavenly pillows of lemony goodness.
When I read reviews of most lemon cookie recipes, I see comments like, “these are not lemony” or “these are too lemony.” The quality of your lemons will impact the quality of these cookies and naturally your taste preferences will dictate whether something is too much or too little. All I can say is that these cookies were the first to go at dessert time. Some of my nieces and nephews even said these were their favorite, over the coveted M&M cookies (wowie, that surprised me).
I told my husband that I’d make a smaller version of these lemon cookies for everyone’s Christmas cookie boxes because I thought a mini version would be good in a box of a bazillion other varieties. (Yes, I’m thinking of Christmas in April.) He instantly shot that down because he proclaimed that these are perfect just the way they are. Okay, duly noted. Do. Not. Change. A Thing. And make more sooner than December.
Glazed Lemon Cookies Recipe
(Makes about 29 cookies)
Ingredients for the Cookies:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (equivalent to 13.5 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (equivalent to 2 lemons, depending on the size of your lemons)
- 1 cup butter, room temperature (equivalent to 2 sticks)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the Icing:
- 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 to 7 tablespoons lemon juice (I highly recommend using fresh squeezed lemon juice from the lemons you zested for the cookies.)
Directions for the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set these dry ingredients aside.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest and mash them together in the bowl until you get lemony sugar.
- Add the butter to the bowl of sugar and lemon zest and cream the mixture until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract into the bowl of creamed lemony sugar and beat all the ingredients together. This is the wet ingredients.
- Add the flour into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix all the ingredients together.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls, about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of dough each. I use the OXO good grips medium cookie scoop.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until the bottom edges are ever so slightly a tan color. (I baked mine for 14 minutes.)
- Let the cookies cool completely before icing them.
Directions for the Icing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until it forms a thick icing.
- Dip the top of the cooled cookies into the icing, flip them so the icing is on top and let them set on a cookie rack.
Adapted from: Two Peas & Their Pod
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