This Glazed Tart Lemon Cookies recipe is one of my favorite treats. They are tart, tangy and sweet and lemon-y... Not to mention so soft and chewy! They have that old fashioned, old school soft and chewy crinkle cookie texture. They taste like sunshine and summertime and are mouth-watering perfection.
Everyone loved these tart lemony cookies! I love the crinkled top too! I'll be making another batch this weekend!
-Emily
Why This Recipe is the Best
I absolutely love lemon flavored things, especially when they have that tart mouth-watering punch. Most lemon cookies don't have lemon juice in them, and if they do, they are cake-y instead of chewy. But I wanted that yummy tartness in mine as well as a chewy texture. So I tested and tested and tested recipes until I finally made one work with the lemon juice and this yummy recipe was born. We did the same thing with our Lemon Bars too!
Try another of our favorite summer cookies: Strawberries and Cream Cookies.
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Key Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients needed for this recipe. Follow our tips on each ingredient for best results.
- granulated sugar- regular, granulated sugar for this recipe. We tested this recipe with brown sugar and it didn't give the right texture or flavor.
- lemon zest and lemon juice- the lemon zest is super important for a nice strong lemony flavor and the juice is important for that tang that we love so much. I tested this recipe over and over and over again to balance the ingredients and maximize the lemon flavor
How to Make Lemon Cookies
Use these process shots to help get the results you are wanting. The pictures can help with texture and be a visual guide for best results.
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Zest or microplane your lemons, then using a lemon juicer, juice your lemons.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl on high for 2-3 minutes until lightened and fluffy.
3. Add the egg, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix on high for 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low just until combined, no longer.
4. Place dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 9-11 minutes. Just until the tops are matte and the edges are set. Remove from oven and let rest on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes and no more than 15.
5. While the cookies cool, make the glaze by mixing together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle on top of cooled cookies.
Helpful Hints
We found while testing this recipe that there was a pretty big difference in flavor when using fresh squeezed lemon juice vs lemon juice concentrate.
If you only have one lemon and it doesn't give you quite enough juice, feel free to use lemon juice concentrate for the rest. A couple of teaspoons of bottled lemon juice is okay.
Use a microplane to get the lemon zest. It is much easier to use! A citrus juicer gets more juice out of the lemons than squeezing it with your hands.
Top Tip
Don't over bake the cookies or they will be dry and crumbly instead of soft and chewy. They are done when the tops are matte and the edges are set.
Recipe
Tart Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter slightly softened, see note 1
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Glaze
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ½-2/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Zest and juice lemon (depending on how juicy your lemon is, you may need more than one).
- In a clean bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Using a hand-held or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Add vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and egg and beat 2 minutes.
- Stir in dry ingredients slowly, just until combined. Dough will be pretty wet.
- Plop scoops of dough onto a lined baking sheet, about 1 ¼ inch diameter. Bake 9-11 minutes just until the tops of the cookies turn matte. (not shiny or melted looking). Cool for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Allow to cool at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice to form the tart lemon glaze. Start with ½ cup and add a little more until the desired consistency is reached.
- Using a spoon, fill it with glaze and allow it to drizzle over the cookie. These cookies are meant to be fun, so don't worry about a specific design!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- For slightly softened butter, the butter should still be firm to the touch, but you should be able to make an indent in it when you press firmly on it with your finger. If your butter is soft enough that your finger easily indents it, your butter is too soft and the cookies will spread flat.
- Make ahead: The dough can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, just let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes before use. Cooked cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Soften in the microwave for about 8 seconds, if desired.
- Use a microplane for easy lemon zesting! Use a citrus juicer to get the most juice out of your lemon.
- Take the time to cream the butter and sugar together for the full amount of time. People ask me all the time why my cookies are so good and this is my numer one tip for the best texture of cookie!
- Don't over bake these cookies! They are done when the tops are completely matte and the edges are set. After removing from the oven, allow them to finish baking on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes.
Nutrition
Storing and Freezing Lemon Cookies
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for about 8 seconds, if desired.
These store great in the freezer. You can freeze the lemon cookie dough or the cooked cookie. To freeze the dough, form the dough into balls, then freeze in a freezer container and thaw in the refrigerator before baking. Bake as normal.
Substitutions and Variations
We love switching things up when we're in the kitchen. Try any of these variations for something a little different. For a shortbread texture, try Lemon Shortbread Cookies.
- lemon juice - if you absolutely must, you can use lemon juice concentrate and 7 jobs of high quality food grade lemon essential oil. It won't taste as good as when you use a fresh lemon, but it will still be yummy.
- Raspberry Lemon - fold in ⅔ cup freeze dried raspberries.
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies - Made with fresh blueberries, these are delicious and like a lemon blueberry muffin in cookie form!
- Strawberry Lemon Cookies - these are tart lemon cookies with a sweet and tart strawberry frosting on top.
- We do NOT recommend using lime juice. None of our recipe testers liked these made with limes.
Nicole says
These are seriously good and really quick to make! Yum! I will definitely make these again 🙂
Sue says
I love lemon flavored goddies and these are wonderful. I will definitely make them again and again.
Nicole says
Wow! these tart lemon cookies are so good. They are soft and chewy and the perfect zip of spring and summer. The frosting/icing is soooo yummy. We like to make them in the wintertime on days we just want spring to come.
Emily says
Everyone loved these tart lemony cookies! I love the crinkled top too! I'll be making another batch this weekend!
Anita says
These are super quick to make, and if you love lemon, you will love these cookies. They're soft and chewy and tart and tangy!
rebecca says
YUM! I love these lemon cookies, these are so lemony! It's been winter forever and I wanted it to feel like spring so we made these and they were sooo good. The perfect texture and so tart and tangy!
Suja md says
These were an amazing treat! Perfect for spring and so tart and lemon-y. Easy to follow recipe!
Min says
I was looking for an easy, tried-and-true super-lemony cookie to bake at a holiday party, and these were perfect. They were a huge hit. I used a lot of zest (the zest of all the lemons I juiced for the batter).
Andrea says
We love hearing this. I'm glad you loved them!
Pam Williams says
I made these cookies and they are delicious. Love how much lemon flavor they have. Will definitely make these again.
Monika says
While the cookies are super lemomy which is what I wanted, they spread out completely flat during baking. I wanted them to be thick and chunky like your picture showed. Any ideas? I even froze the last try of cookies before baking< but that didn't work either
Nicole says
Yes, I've had this happen to me while testing this recipe- it's going to be one of 2 things. Instead of using fully softened butter, use slightly softened- this makes the hugest difference for me! I've updated the recipe to include slightly softened butter and exactly what that is. I don't know the science behind it, but this makes the HUGEST difference for me in cookie spread. The other option is you may need a little more flour. If you are an experienced baker, you are probably fluffing your flour really well, then gently scooping it into the measuring cup and scraping it flat. I wrote this recipe for regular bakers who don't do that, so if you do that you'll need to add more flour (refer to the process photo in the post of the dough for a stickiness/ texture reference). Let me know if this helps!