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These Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies are soft, perfectly chewy, and flavored with plenty of lemon zest and juice. Your family will love these bright sugar cookies!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made these Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies in the past 10 years, but it’s been a lot.
I originally posted this recipe in 2010 after finding it on Rock Recipes and after 10+ years, I thought it was time to share them again with new photos and updated text.
These Chewy Lemon Cookies are simple to make and bursting with lemon flavor, which in my opinion makes them the perfect cookie for summer!
WHY I LOVE THIS COOKIE RECIPE
I love citrus in my desserts and baked goods.
Whether it’s lemon in Lemon Blueberry Bread and No-Bake Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecakes, orange in Orange Scones and Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake, or lime in Key Lime Pie Bars and Key Lime Pie Ice Cream…I love it all.
And I really, really love my Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies. So you know I had to try the recipe with lemon instead of lime.
And these cookies are so good! I might still prefer the lime version…but I’ll probably need to try them both again to decide for sure. You know, for science.
Now I love basically every type of sugar cookie. Decorated sugar cookies? Soft sugar cookies? Sure!
But there’s really something special about a crinkly, chewy sugar cookie. Especially one that has a bright lemony flavor.
I also love that you don’t have to let the dough chill before baking, because sometimes I just want cookies right now.
I had to give most of these cookies to a friend in order not to eat them all myself.
HOW TO MAKE THESE LEMON SUGAR COOKIES
To make these chewy cookies, you’ll need:
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of one large lemon, finely grated or minced
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Yep, you’ll use the zest of a large lemon and ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice in these cookies. When we go for lemon flavor, we go hard.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set that aside.
Beat together the softened butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Once the wet ingredients are well combined, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
No chilling required! I like to use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough, then roll the dough into balls and roll them in some more granulated sugar.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they are just set in the center and barely golden.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
CAN YOU FREEZE CHEWY LEMON SUGAR COOKIES?
I love freezing cookies. They’re one of the easiest baked goods to freeze.
If you want to freeze the dough before baking, check out my tutorial on how to freeze cookie dough. Just roll the dough balls in sugar just before baking, after you take them out of the freezer.
If you want to freeze the baked cookies, layer cooled cookies in a freezer-safe airtight container with parchment paper between the layers or place them in zip-top freezer bags.
Freeze for up to 3 months. They’ll thaw quickly at room temperature, so take them out a couple of hours before serving them at a party or grab a few whenever a cookie craving strikes.
Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Zest of one large lemon finely grated or minced
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
- Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
- Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
- Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is such a beautiful cookie. As light as air with a lovely little crunch and big lemon flavor. My favorite lemon cookie that I have ever tried so this is the one I will stick with. Thank you for your recipe, these are just delicious!
I love hearing that, Terry! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
Jamie
Dough was extremely soft and nodded to be rolled with a delicate touch. Baking time was at least 15 minutes! Otherwise, good tasting!
Glad you liked them, Nancy! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
Jamie
Made these for the first time, and while the flavor was heavenly, they came out flat and thin like pie crust. I know for sure that I measured everything correctly. Also, the dough was extremely sticky and near impossible to work with. Any ideas?
I’m so sorry you had trouble with this recipe! I have made them many times and have had many, many readers make them without this issue, so I’m not quite sure what might have happened for you. I hope you’ll give them another try, though!
Jamie
@Jessica, if you roll them very lightly and then drop them in the sugar, then pick them up and start rolling them around adding sugar as you’re rolling them in your hand, as you roll them, you are cupping your hand. They really turn out beautifully. Just delicate.
@Jamie, Depending on the heat of the air in the kitchen, the butter could have been too soft and lost its ability to provide structure. In other words it would be like using melted butter instead of softened butter. Add more flour or corn starch or use the butter just when pliable. The sugar crystals are like little diamonds and will act as scissors to soften the butter to the best consistency.
Made these this afternoon and they were terrific. Cooked them for 15 minutes. Adding these to my regular recipes.
So glad you enjoyed them, Chad! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing. Happy baking!
Jamie
These truly hit home for me! I have been hunting for many years for a recipe like my grandmother’s. These instantly took me back 30 years in the kitchen with her. Thank you for this recipe, now I can make the same memories with my children.
I love hearing that! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
Jamie
These turned out amazingly! As they are quite sugary I added a little lemon glaze of lemon juice, powdered sugar, and milk, to the top for an extra pop of lemon flavor…delicious :)
Love the idea of adding a glaze! Thanks so much for sharing. Happy baking!
Jamie
Can you make cut outs from this recipe?
Hi Leslie – I haven’t attempted doing cut outs, but I don’t think they would work very well – it’s just not really that kind of cookie dough.
Jamie
My friend told me she loved the flavors of lemon and raspberry… So, I decided to make her some lemon-raspberry cookies! I used this recipe for the cookie; but after the 2 minute or so cooling time, I used a small cup to make an indentation in each of the cookies before transferring them to the cooling rack.
While the cookies were still warm, I heated 1 cup of seedless raspberry jam in the microwave for about 90 seconds, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Then, I filled the “well” in each of the cookies with the heated jam!
Allowed them to finish cooling, and voila! Lemon-raspberry sugar cookies! Turned out AMAZING!!!
What a great idea, Dale! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
Jamie
The perfect lemon sugar cookie, soft yet slightly crisp on outside! They are devoured every time I make them.
So glad you enjoyed these, Sharon! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback! Happy baking.
-Jamie
Jamie these are the best ! I’ve made them twice now and they don’t last but 2 days between two people. I’ll have to try some of your other recopies. Thank You for this one.
So glad you enjoy these cookies! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
-Jamie