Glazed Lemon Cookies

These buttery, not-too-sweet cookies with a mild lemon flavor and a sweetly tart lemon glaze have been a hit with everyone who tries one.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

In my family, we’re all big fans of lemon desserts. From the best lemon bars you’ll ever taste to the lemon angel pie we make every year, lemon ice cream to lemon sorbet, lemon cheesecake to glazed lemon pound cake, there aren’t many lemon desserts that won’t make me smile.

Sometimes I like that pop of tangy citrus flavor to pretty much hit me in the face. Other times the lemon flavor sneaks in quietly and works its magic that way. These lemon cookies are a quiet kind of magical treat.

This is a mild lemon cookie, perfect for pairing with a cup of tea in the afternoon. If you want to kick up that lemon flavor, a bit more lemon zest will do the trick and a bit of lemon extract will boost it even more. Feel free to adjust the amount of lemon to deliver the lemon cookie you will like best.

Lemon Cookie Recipe

You’ll need the following ingredients to make these cookies:

• sugar
• lemon zest
• butter
• egg
• vanilla extract
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers, until fragrant.

Add the butter to the bowl with the lemony sugar and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat again until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat again to combine.

Drop the dough by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies approximately 2 inches apart. Roll them into balls and then gently flatten each one with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 11-12 minutes, until the cookies are just barely set and lightly golden brown around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute and then transfer them to cooking racks. Cool completely.

Lemon Glaze for Cookies

You’ll need just two ingredients to make this glaze:

• powdered sugar
• lemon juice

To make the glaze combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk or stir until smooth, adding more lemon juice, a drizzle at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

Drizzle the glaze over each cookie. Allow the cookies to set until the icing has firmly set. Store in an airtight container.

Lemon Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center are one of my favorite lemon treats. Lemon desserts are always a great thing in my world, but these cookies are truly sublime. (I don’t use that word lightly either!)

Bite-size Lemon Drop Cookies are soft not-too-sweet cookies dipped into a sweetly tart glaze. Traditional and gluten-free recipes are included.

Thin, crisp, lemony cookies, slightly tart from plenty of lemon zest, sweetened with white chocolate chips, and loaded with macadamia nuts; these White Chocolate Macadamia Lemon Cookies were the surprise hit of our camping trip last summer. Traditional and gluten-free recipes are included.

{originally published 5/26/11 – recipe notes and photos updated 4/8/24}

recipe thanks to Two Peas And Their Pod, method lightly adapted from same