These Lemon Sugar Cookies are buttery and soft, with the perfect hint of lemon. The lemon frosting makes them over the top delicious. A perfect cookie recipe for lemon lovers!
We love sugar cookies, and especially love this lemon version. If you love sugar cookies as much as we do, you’ll also love our sugar cookie bars and sugar cookie fruit pizza!
Soft Lemon Sugar Cookies
If you love lemon desserts, I have the perfect cookie for you! I took my favorite sugar cookie recipe and adapted it to come up with today’s recipe for Lemon Sugar Cookies.
I am a huge fan of anything lemon, and I was thrilled with how these cookies turned out. They are the perfect cookie for anyone who loves lemon. With such a soft cookie and a delicious lemon frosting on top, it was hard not to love them.
One thing I love about these cookies is that you don’t have to roll them out with a rolling pin. Nope, no hassle at all. Just roll them into balls and place them on greased or silicone lined cookie sheets.
How to make Lemon Sugar Cookies
With no rolling, these cookies are so simple!! Here is what you need to do to make them:
WET INGREDIENTS. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest till well combined.
DRY INGREDIENTS. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
NO ROLLING OUT. Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.
BAKE. Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes, or till barely light brown on the bottom. Let sit 3-4 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling racks.
Cool cookies completely before frosting.
Recipe Tips
Lemon Flavor To adjust the lemon flavor just decrease or increase the lemon zest.
My cookie came out too thin: If your cookie is thinner that you would like you can do a couple of things:
- Add a bit more flour to the dough
- Chill the dough
Don’t overcook: be sure to remove the cookies before they begin to brown. They may even seem to be a little undercooked, but they will finish cooking as they cool on the hot pan.
Lemon Buttercream Frosting + more additions
After they are baked and cooled you top them with a delicious lemon buttercream frosting.
I used a star tip to pipe my frosting on, and they turned out so pretty, don’t you think? But of course you can just spread the frosting on with a knife, they will still taste incredible!
To make it, just beat together butter, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice till creamy, adding milk if needed. If you are piping the frosting, it needs to be thick. If you are just spreading it on, you can add more liquid.
Beautiful and Delicious additions: These cookies are simply yummy, but if you want to change them up I have a few ideas:
- Add poppy seeds to the dough
- Top the frosting with fresh raspberries
- Drizzle white chocolate onto the cookie then top with frosting
- Sprinkle sliced macadamia or almonds on top
How to Store + Tips
Place your sugar cookies in an air-tight container and STORE them on the counter for up to 4 days. They can be placed in the fridge to extend that storing time for an extra day or two.
If you’re planning on FREEZING your cookies, try to freeze them before you add the frosting. They’ll hold up better unfrosted. Either way, stack them in an airtight container separated by sheets of wax paper. They should stay good for up to 3 months.
Let defrost before adding frosting and serving.
These sugar cookies aren’t only gorgeous, but they’re delicious. I promise all lemon lovers will be obsessed!! ;D
We hope you agree!! Let us know what you think of them.
For more lemon recipes, check out:
- Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Brownies
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Lemon Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 dash salt
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 Tbsp milk, if needed
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest till well combined.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.
- Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes, or till barely light brown on the bottom. Let sit 3-4 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling racks.
- Cool cookies completely, then frost. I piped frosting on with a 1M star tip.
Lemon Frosting
- Beat together butter, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice till creamy, adding milk if needed. If you are piping the frosting, it needs to be thick. If you are just spreading it on, you can add more liquid.
I made a double batch of these last night. We loved them. The lemon flavoR is just right and not overpowering. It takes a little time to zest and juice lemons but it is well worTh the time to do It.
One comment about using a glass to flatten The cookEs: I’ve baked a lot but have never done that. I recommend doing it for this recipe. It is a great way to both flatten and even out your cookies. i found it best to Dip the Bottom of the glass in a little water. Shake off the excess, Then dip the glass in white granulated sugar. Dip the glass in sugar before EACH Cookie or the dough will stick to the Glass. only dip the glass in water before the first cookie.
Perfect!! Thanks for saying that! So glad they are loved!
Looks yummy xxx
They are 🙂 Hope you try them! Thank you!
Just made them and they are delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
You are so welcome!! Thank you for letting me know!
Going to make these soon! It says to flatten with a Glass , how flat do You suggest?
It’s just enough to press them down to a circle. Hopefully, that helps 🙂 It’s maybe 1/2in.
I have one complaint:
they are too yummy 🙂
I make these all the time for my husband and my work. This year – I have to make about 100 cookies for a Christmas distribution for the clinics and hospital in my area. This recipe NEVER fails me. They are a HIT.
That’s a lot of cookies! Glad they are a hit! Thank you!
These are delicious! A wonderful soft cakey cookie with soft fluffy lemon cream frosting (used heavy whipping cream instead of milk). I will be making this again. Thank you so much for sharing.
To flatten the cookies, I used a little plastic wrap and did two at a time. The first batch I forgot to flatten. Still yummy, just sitting up kinda high. I used a large round tip to pipe, and sprinkles to cover the lines. They’re very pretty.
Thanks so much for sharing that!!
O.M.G. I made these a few days ago during my cookie escapades haha and let me tell you they are soooooo good! I was a little bit jealous I had to give them away to others 😆. They’re soft and chewy and the lemon flavour is just yummmm….my mouth is watering just talking about them!
This is a perfect treat. I cannot wait to make them. Thank you for sharing this 🙂
You are so welcome! Thanks for trying them!
Just love these cookies!!!! The lemon flavor is wonderful and they are not too sweet. I do have a question about the frosting. The frosting was nice and firm which I liked, but It was a bit sweet for my taste. I was wondering if I could eliminate some of the powdered sugar….maybe half as much?? Would if affect the ratio of the other ingredients?? Would it not be as stiff? I would appreciate any tips for making the frosting less sweet. Thank you in advance.
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies!! I have not made the frosting with less powdered sugar, but you could certainly try that. It may slightly affect the texture. Another option is to add a little more lemon juice and/or lemon zest. The texture would be the same but it would be a stronger lemon flavor/not as sweet.
These cookies are nothing short of amazing! Everyone who has eaten them loves them! I love the simplicity of the recipe and how beautiful they look when then are finished with the icing on!
Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad to hear the cookies are a hit!!
Can these be frozen ahead of time and frosted later?
Yes!! They last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just make sure to thaw before frosting.
Hi! I’m planning on making these and was wondering if I can make the dough ahead and keep it in the fridge for a few days before baking? If so, how many days do you think it would keep?
Thank you!
You could! Cookie dough in the fridge should last 2-4 days. Another option is to bake the cookies and then once cooled, pop them in the freezer in an airtight container separated by sheets of wax paper. Pull them out and let them defrost when you are ready to frost the tops and they taste as fresh as when you baked them! They will stay good this way for up to 3 months.
I made these for my daughter . very easy to make and they tasted delicious 😋 grandkids loved them 😋
Yay! I’m so glad to hear they were a hit with your family. Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
These look really good. Will the icing hardened up so you can stack the cookies in a container.
It will a little bit, but we recommend freezing before adding the frosting. However, you can freeze with the frosting. If doing that, I’d probably just spread the frosting with a knife rather than using a tip and piping the frosting on. Either way, just stack them in an airtight container lined with wax paper and they’ll last for about 3 months in the freezer.
How many cookies per serving? Is 1 cookie 198 calories.
Depending on how large you make the cookie, that’s about what it would be. If they are smaller sized, the calorie count may be a little less. That include cookie and frosting. The recipe makes about 30 cookies.