Bake a batch of these Chewy Iced Lemon cookies that have a bold taste of fresh lemon in a soft buttery sugar cookie. A delicious recipe for the lemon lover.
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To make these cookies you just need eight basic ingredients, nothing fancy because these cookies are all about lemons. I just picked these beauties from my backyard tree, they are beautiful this year.
Another reason to love these cookies
- The dough and the icing are both simple to make
- This cookie recipe uses a few pantry ingredients.
- No chilling of the dough is required, just mix and bake
- You can freeze the cookie dough for later, and you can freeze the baked and frosted cookies too!
- These are delicious lemon sugar cookies with real lemon.
Cookie Tips
If you like chewy cookies there are a few tricks to help you get that perfect chewy cookie texture.
- Use brown sugar which has more moisture than white sugar
- Add a small amount of corn syrup, honey, or golden syrup, which attracts moisture
- Watch your baking time. Remove the cookies when they are still soft in the center, otherwise, your cookies are going to be crispy because you baked the moisture out of the cookie
Cookie Ingredients
Simple ingredients for a soft lemon cookie
- Butter – I love unsalted butter in my baked goods for its great flavor. Make sure it is softened and at room temperature.
- Brown Sugar – Using brown sugar helps make these cookies chewy and of course to sweeten them.
- Light corn syrup – this also adds moisture to the texture of the cookie.
- Granulated Sugar – I use this to roll the cookies in before they get baked.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour to give the cookie structure.
- Baking soda – This will react with the acid in the lemon and help the cookie rise.
- Salt – just a little bit adds flavor.
- Lemons – try to use fresh if available for the best lemony flavor. Make sure to check out this guide to learn about the difference in lemon sizes so you can determine how many lemons you need for a recipe.
- Powdered sugar – use this to make the icing
Let’s Make Cookies
Step 1. With a stand mixer or a hand mixer and a large bowl, beat the room-temperature butter, brown sugar, and the egg to combine for 3-4 minutes. This will add air to the mixture and help dissolve the sugar.
Step 2. Next, mix in the corn syrup and lemon juice. Make sure to use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
Lemon juice tip – You can use store-bought bottled lemon juice as a substitute for fresh lemon juice. But keep in mind that bottled lemon juice can contain preservatives that can affect the lemon taste. Use the same amount of bottled juice as you would for the fresh juice.
Step 3. Finally, mix in all the dry ingredients and the lemon zest. Don’t overmix the batter; make sure all the flour is incorporated.
That’s as easy as it gets; you don’t even have to chill this dough!
Step 4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. and line your cookie sheets with parchment or a Silpat.
Step 5. Fill a small bowl with sugar. Scoop out the lemon cookie dough and roll the balls in the granulated sugar, then place on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. I like using a cookie dough scoop to make the dough balls because it’s super quick and easy and all the cookies come out the same size.
Ready, set, bake!
Step. 6 Bake for 10 minutes for beautifully browned buttery cookies. Remove from the oven then transfer to a wire rack to cool before frosting.
Step 7. But wait, there’s more, learn how to make lemon cookie icing, it’s super easy and will add extra lemony flavor on top of the cookies. Just mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth and creamy, then ice the cooled cookies. Let the icing set until firm.
More lemon recipes
- If you love cake and lots of lemon flavor, this Lemon Bundt Cake will be the perfect dessert.
- Another favorite cake is this Raspberry Iced Lemon Ginger Sponge Cake, three flavors in one delicious cake.
- Another easy lemon cookie recipe is these Slice and Bake Lemon Shortbreads. They are tender and lemony and the perfect cookie for tea, coffee, and lemonade.
- If cookie baking is your thing check out all the One Hot Oven Cookie Recipes. You will find some delicious and fun cookies to make.
Tools I used to make cookies
- Stand Mixer with a bowl or use a handheld mixer and a large mixing bowl
- Lemon zester
- Lemon reamer
- Measuring cups
- Rubber spatula
- Cookie scoop
- Small bowl
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper or Silpat
Help yourself
Lemon FAQs
The lemon juice is acidic and will add a bitter flavor to a recipe. The lemon zest is from the peel of the lemon and contains citrus oils that have a tangy flavor. So, each has a different flavor.
You can buy dried lemon peel in the spice section at the market. If the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, use a 1/2 teaspoon of dried lemon peel.
You can add some extra lemon juice to the recipe to get more lemony flavor, but this can add a more bitter flavor. For a teaspoon of lemon zest add a tablespoon of lemon juice.
More to bake and eat!
Chewy Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
Chewy Lemon Cookie Dough
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- 2¼ cups AP flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup lemon zest 2-3 medium sized lemons
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar use this for rolling the cookie in before baking
Lemon Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest 1 lemon
Instructions
Making the cookie dough
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and prepare baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl beat the softened butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. A stand mixer with the paddle attachment works best for this heavy dough.
- Beat in the egg until thoroughly combined then add the corn syrup and lemon juice. Beat again until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and beat on low until combined. Add the lemon zest and mix in just to combine.
- Using a cookie scoop make 1" balls of dough then roll in the sugar to coat. Place the dough balls on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. To keep the cookies chewy remove from the oven while the centers are still soft. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes then move to a cooling rack.
Making the Lemon Glaze
- Stir all the glaze ingredients together until smooth. If the glaze is too thick add additional amounts of lemon juice. You do want this glaze to be fairly thick so it doesn't run off the cookie.
- Once the cookies have cooled ice the top of the cookies with the glaze.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for several days.
Notes
- Take the cookies out of the oven while the centers are still soft. The cookies will continue to bake for a minute longer out of the oven.
- You can freeze the unbaked cookie dough. Form the cookie dough balls and place them on a tray in the freezer. Once frozen place the dough balls in a plastic bag or freezer container. When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove them from the freezer and let sit for 15 minutes, then bake.
- You can freeze the baked and glazed cookies. Once the cookies have been baked and glazed and the glaze has hardened on the cookie, place the cookies in a plastic bag or freezer container. When ready to eat remove from the freezer and let sit for one hour.
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About Jere’ Cassidy
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place. I am glad to be sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
Those cookies are my new favorite! So yummy and refreshing! Love this lemon glaze! Thanks for sharing!
Love lemon desserts and these iced lemon cookies are the perfect treat! The corn syrup gives it the perfect texture!