Lemon Cookies

5 from 1 vote

These lemon cookies are packed with all the lemon flavor you can dream of. They are soft and delicious and drizzled with a zesty lemon glaze.

Prep Time15

Cook Time12

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 149kcal

Author: Alison

Ingredients

½ cup Butter Lightly Salted, Softened
¾ cups White Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Lemon Extract
1 Large Egg
2 cups All Purpose Flour Measured Correctly*
2 tsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest

For the Glaze:

1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice Scant*
⅛ tsp Lemon Extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
Add the softened butter and white sugar to your mixer and cream them together until smooth.
Add the lemon extract and egg and mix them in.
Add the all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and stir in by hand (with a spoon, but just don't use an electric mixer for this part).
Add the lemon zest and mix into a big ball of cookie dough.
Break off pieces of the dough and roll them into balls. Aim to get 20 balls out of the batch. Place them evenly on a parchment lined baking tray. Flatten the balls with a fork or the base of a glass.
Bake for 12 minutes. For an even softer cookie bake for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool on the tray and when cool, mix up your lemon glaze.
Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract to a bowl and mix it into a glaze.
Drizzle over the cookies and leave them for a few minutes for the glaze to set.

Video

Notes

If your butter is unsalted that's also completely fine to use. If you forget to soften it, then cut it into cubes and beat it in your electric mixer for a couple of minutes to soften it before you add the sugar and cream them together.
If you can't get lemon extract then you can replace it with lemon juice. The flavor will be much milder.
Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method for measuring flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don't scoop it and don't pack it into the cup. Alternatively weigh it on a food scale. If you select the 'metric' option below the list of ingredients it will show you the weight in grams.
The cornstarch has a softening effect on baked goods and keeps these cookies deliciously soft.
Flatten the cookies with a fork or the base of a glass. These cookies don't spread much at all while they bake. So you do need to flatten them before baking. If you're using the base of a glass then cut a small square of parchment paper to go between the base of the glass and the cookie so there is no sticking.
The tablespoons of lemon juice for the glaze must be filled to just before the top, not overflowing. The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle but not so thin that it slides off the cookies. If you glaze the first cookie and see that most of the glaze runs right off and makes a puddle around the cookie, then it's too thin. Add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. If it's too thick then add more lemon juice, a drop or two at a time until you get the right consistency.

Nutrition