These delicately soft lemon drop cookies frosted with lemon icing and a sprinkling of lemon zest are bursting with citrus flavor. These sweet and tart cookies are easy to make and are a perfect spring or summertime dessert or snack.
lemon drop cookies
If you love the tartness of lemon and are a fan of soft and fluffy cookies, you've definitely got to try this recipe.
These frosted lemon cookies are refreshing and light and are perfect for spring or summer. They'd be great with a tall glass of iced tea or a cold glass of milk.
They are easy enough to make for an afternoon snack but look nice enough to serve for Easter dessert or at a tea party.
how to make lemon drop cookies
you will need:
BUTTER
Use softened unsalted butter. Set your butter out on your counter to soften 1 hour before you plan to make these cookies. You want it soft enough that a finger pressed into it makes a slight indentation but it doesn't flatten the butter.
SUGAR
Granulated sugar will add sweetness to your lemon cookies.
EGG and EGG YOLK
Use one large egg and one large egg yolk for this recipe. The extra yolk will add richness and moisture. It's always best to use room temperature eggs when baking. Set the eggs on the counter when you set the butter out.
LEMON JUICE
This recipe will use 4 ounces (½ cup) of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Depending on the size of the lemons you choose, you'll need 4-7 lemons. Before you squeeze them, be sure to zest a few.
Be sure the lemons are at room temperature. You don't want to add cold lemon juice to the cookie dough.
LEMON ZEST
To make the cookie dough, you'll need 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. You can typically get 1 tablespoon of zest from a medium-sized lemon.
how do you zest a lemon?
Scrape a lemon over a Microplane grater to get very thin pieces of lemon zest. Only scrape off the yellow lemon peel. You don't want to scrape off the bitter white pith under the lemon peel.
ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
- Preferably unbleached flour. Chemicals used in bleached flour produce a softer, less-dense texture. Unbleached flour is denser and more structured and can hold up your baked goods better.
- That said, both work!
BAKING SODA
Baking soda helps the cookies rise and prevents the cookies from tasting too “cakey.”
BAKING POWDER
Baking powder adds carbon dioxide to encourage the cookies to rise up and out.
SALT
Never forget your salt in cookies! It helps to balance the sweetness in all your baked goods.
CONFECTIONER'S SUGAR
The confectioner's sugar, also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar, will sweeten your lemon icing.
TOOLS YOU'LL NEED
- parchment paper
- hand mixer or standing mixer
- cookie scoop (1 tablespoon size)
let's make cookies!
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a few baking trays with parchment paper.
step one: cream your butter and sugar
- Cream the butter until smooth and creamy.
- Then, add the sugar and beat until well blended.
step two: mix in the eggs
- Beat in the egg and egg yolk just until smooth.
- Cookie dough can often look curdled after adding the eggs so be sure to beat the dough until it smooths out.
step three: juice and zest your lemons
- Zest two or more lemons until you get 2 tablespoons of zest.
- Squeeze enough lemons to create 4 ounces of juice.
- Pour the juice through a strainer to remove and pulp and seeds.
- Add the lemon zest and lemon juice to the bowl of cookie dough.
- DO NOT mix at this point.
NOTES: In experimenting with this recipe, I learned that trying to mix cold lemon juice into the butter, sugar, and egg mixture caused the batter to separate. So, I recommend using room temperature lemon juice and adding the flour along with the juice.
step four: mix the dry ingredients
- Blend the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together using a fork or whisk.
- Then add it to the bowl of cookie dough.
- Beat on low speed just until combined.
step five: scoop and bake
- Scoop out 40 tablespoon-size balls of lemon cookie dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the cookies no longer look wet and when a finger pressed gently in the center does not leave an indentation.
- The edges of the cookies will just begin to turn lightly golden brown but the cookies will still be very light in color.
step six: ice your lemon cookies
- In a bowl with a hand mixer or in your stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy.
- Sift the powdered sugar over top and add lemon juice, milk, and lemon zest.
- Beat until smooth and creamy.
- If needed, add more lemon juice or milk to thin out the icing. If you prefer a nice and tart lemon frosting, add more lemon juice. Milk will tone down the flavor of the lemon.
- When cookies have cooled, spread a small dollop of icing on each cookie and top with a sprinkling of lemon zest.
See the printable recipe below.
more cookie recipes
printable lemon drop cookie recipe
lemon drop cookies
Soft cake-like lemon cookies topped with lemon icing are tart and sweet and so easy to make for dessert or a snack.
Ingredients
- lemon cookie dough:
- 288 grams all-purpose flour (or 2 ¼ cups or 10.16 ounces)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 155 grams slightly-softened butter (or ⅔ cups, 5.5 ounces, OR 10 ⅔ tablespoons)
- 201 grams granulated sugar (or 1 cup or 5.5 ounces)
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 12 grams (2 tablespoons) lemon zest (from 2-3 lemons)
- 113 grams freshly squeezed lemon juice (or ½ cup or 4 ounces)
- lemon icing:
- 66 grams slightly softened butter (or 5 tablespoons or 2.4 ounces)
- 364 grams confectioner's sugar (or 3 cups or 12.8 ounces)
- 14 - 42 grams (1 ½ - 3 tablespoons) lemon juice
- 6 grams (1 tablespoon) lemon zest, plus more for decoration
- 15 - 45 grams (1 - 3 tablespoons) milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.
- Beat the butter then add the sugar and beat on medium speed using a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until well combined.
- Pour the lemon juice and lemon zest over the cookie dough then add the flour mixture.
- Beat on low speed just until combined.
- Scoop 40 tablespoon-size balls of dough on the baking sheets spacing the cookies 2-inches apart.
- Bake one sheet of cookies at a time, keeping the dough in the refrigerator in between batches.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookie edges just begin to brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets.
- Beat the butter until smooth.
- Sift the powdered sugar over the butter.
- Pour in 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon of milk over top.
- Beat until creamy and smooth.
- Add more lemon juice (for a stronger lemon flavor) or milk (for a milder lemon flavor) a little at a time if needed until the icing is spreadable.
- When the cookies have cooled, spread a small dollop of icing on each cookie, then sprinkle on some fresh lemon zest.
Cookies
Icing:
Notes
It is always best to weigh your ingredients. If you don't have a scale and you use cups to measure your flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then scrape off the excess. We use 128 grams of flour per cup.
Use room temperature ingredients! It's best to set your butter, eggs, and lemons on the counter for at least 1 hour before making these lemon drop cookies.
Your butter should be softened so that when you press a finger into the butter it makes an indentation but does not flatten the butter.
- If your dough is too soft, chill in the refrigerator. Or, you can scoop the cookies onto your baking sheets, then refrigerate until ready to bake.
Bake one tray at a time (do NOT use trays that have been in the oven)
Store these lemon drop cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Unfrosted cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze the cookies unfrosted for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
40Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 79Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 72mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
HowToMakeEasyCookies.com offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you use to create this recipe.
I hope you enjoy this lemon drop cookie recipe! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions for comments about this easy cookie recipe.
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