Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies

Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies, made with fresh lemon juice and zest in the cookies and in the delicious lemon glaze drizzled over them while they are still warm. These soft lemon cookies are a lemon lover’s dream come true!

Two of my favorite things on earth… lemons and cookies! These Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies are perfect in every way. 

If you have just joined me here, you may not know about my love affair with all things lemon.  It’s truly one of my favorite flavors of all.  

Though I love to bake, I am not tempted by a lot of baked goods…. with the exception of cookies.  I think it’s just they are so little and portable, and you feel like “one couldn’t hurt….” (followed by another and another….)

Looking for other delicious lemon desserts?’ Try one of these recipes; Lemon Crumb Muffins With Lemon Glaze, Lemon Creamcheese Bundt Cake, or these Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars.

I found this recipe for lemon cookies on Pinterest a long time ago. Then my sister came to see me on the weekend of my birthday, from San Diego. Guess what she brought me?? Fresh lemons from her gorgeous backyard! She has a backyard that should be in Better Homes and Gardens.  I am so envious of it!

The first time that I made these cookies was in 2014. I shipped a special care package to Teresa for her and her hubby to enjoy.  They loved them! I know that you will too!

My “Sister” Teresa

Truth be told, Teresa isn’t my sister by birth. But she and I have been friends for almost 4 decades now. *gulp* There I go showing my age again!

She’s God-Mom to two of our kids and the best Aunt to all of them! She has the kindest sweetest heart of anyone I know. We have always referred to each other as “sisters,” and I couldn’t be prouder to call her mine!

Ingredients Needed To Make Glazed Lemon Cookies

For the Cookies:

Flour  – I used 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for these easy lemon cookies. 

Cornstarch – I used 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

Baking soda – I used ½ teaspoon of baking soda.

Salt – I added ½ teaspoon of salt.

Butter – You’ll need ¾ cup of butter, softened. I used unsalted butter.

Sugar – This glazed lemon cookie recipe needs 1 1/4 cups of sugar.

Lemon zest – You need the zest of 2 lemons or about 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Egg – I used one large white egg and one large yolk. 

Lemon juice – I used 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. 

Vanilla extract – I used 1 ½ teaspoons of real vanilla extract.

For the Glaze:

Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioner’s sugar, you’ll need one cup.

Lemon juice – I used 1 ½ tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.

Lemon zest – I used 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.

How To Make Lemon Cookies With Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip together butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium-high speed, until the mixture is pale and fluffy and a dough forms, about 3 minutes. Scraping down the sides of the bowl.  If you don’t have an electric mixer, in a medium bowl mix vigorously by hand or using a hand mixer. 

Next, add the wet ingredients. Blend in egg, then egg yolk. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla extract.

Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Scoop lemon cookie dough out by the heaping tablespoonfuls, form the dough into balls, and drop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. With the bottom of a glass, gently “flatten” the dough ball.

Bake cookies in preheated oven for 9 – 11 minutes (for soft lemon cookies with a gooey center closer to 9 minutes and a more set, fluffy cookie bake these delicious cookies closer to 11 minutes).

Allow cookies to cool on parchment-lined baking sheets for several minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Drizzle the top of each cookie with sweet Lemon Glaze. You can drizzle the glaze on slightly cooled cookies. Store in a single layer in an airtight container.

To make the easy lemon glaze for cookies:

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to reach a drizzle-able consistency. Or use a wide metal spatula to combine all the ingredients.  You want to have a pourable glaze in terms of consistency. 

Pour mixture into a resealable bag, seal the bag, and cut a small tip off one corner then drizzle glaze over slightly warm cookies. Alternatively, you can use a spoon. Allow the tangy lemon glaze to set at room temperature for the perfect finish. Store in an airtight container.

Love it? Pin it!

If you love this recipe for the best lemon cookies make sure that you don’t lose it! Pin it to your favorite Pinterest recipe board before you go!

FAQs

• Do you glaze cookies before or after baking? Cookies should be glazed after they come out of the oven. 
• Do you let cookies cool before glazing? Most of the time it is best to wait for the cookies to cool before glazing. If you apply glaze to a warm cookie it may drizzle off the side. 
• How do you apply glaze to cookies? To apply glaze to a cookie you can use a spoon, knife, a piping bag, or a plastic bag that has a hole in it that you can squeeze the glaze through. 
• Should sugar cookies be soft or crispy? Whether sugar cookies should be soft or crispy really depends on your personal preference. 

Substitutions

If you are short on lemons and can’t get to the grocery store you can use some lemon extract to make these lemon sugar cookies. 

Tips and Tricks

Sprinkle the tops of the glazed cookies with poppy seeds for some crunch. 

To separate egg yolks from whites, crack the egg in the middle and transfer the mixture back and forth over a small bowl. The whites will drip into the bowl and the yolk should remain in the shell. 

For best results, store these real lemon cookies in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap.  

If you are freezing these chewy lemon cookies, separate them with wax paper so they don’t stick together.  

These cookies come together quickly and easily.  Aside from the gift of fresh lemons from my sister’s backyard, I always have everything on hand in my pantry.  No crazy ingredients here, friends.

Lemon Recipes from An Affair from the Heart

Do you love Lemon like I do? If so, I’ll bet you’ll love these other Lemon Recipes! I have a couple of favorites here:

• Lemon Brownies (pictured above)
• Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling
• No Bake Lemon Raspberry Cheesecakes
• Pink Lemonade Cake
• Lemon Ice Cream
• Glazed Lemon Bars
• Lemonade Chex Mix
• Lemon Raspberry Bread
• Honey Lemon Fruit Salad

I hope that these lemon cookies become a family favorite of yours, too.   Let’s get to that recipe, shall we? 

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Print Recipe

Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies

Chewy glazed lemon cookies, made with fresh lemon and zest in the cookies and in the delicious lemon glaze drizzled over them while they are still warm. These cookies are a lemon lovers dream come true!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time11 minutes mins

Total Time21 minutes mins

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies, how to make cookies with fresh lemon, what to do with fresh lemons

Servings: 30 cookies

Calories: 99kcal

Author: An Affair from the Heart

Equipment

• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Hand Mixer 
• Wilton Stainless Steel Cookie Scoop
• 15 x 10 x 1-Inch Cookie/Jelly Roll Pan
• 13x18 Half Sheet Pan
• Manual Juicer Citrus / Lemon Squeezer
• Citrus Zester

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• For the Cookies:
• 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• Zest of 2 lemons about 1 1/2 Tablespoons
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• For the Glaze:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In your mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, whip together butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium-high speed, until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Blend in egg, then egg yolk. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla extract.
• Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
• Scoop dough out by the heaping Tablespoonfuls, form dough into balls and drop onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. With the bottom of a glass, gently "flatten" the dough ball.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven for 9 - 11 minutes (for a gooey centered cookie closer to 9 and a more set, fluffy cookie more near 11).
• Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.
• Drizzle slightly warm cookies with **Lemon Glaze.
• Store in a single layer in an airtight container.
• **Lemon Glaze: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to reach a drizzle-able consistency. Pour mixture into a resealable bag, seal bag and cut a small tip off one corner then drizzle glaze over slightly warm cookies. Alternatively, you can use a spoon. Allow glaze to set at room temperature.
• Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 98mg | Sugar: 12g

 This recipe was originally posted in June 2014.  It was updated in March 2020 and again in March of 2023 to continually improve user experience. 

Original Recipe Found at Cooking Classy