I hate how lemon desserts seem to always over promise and under deliver. Recipes are either way to lemony or not enough, so I created this amazing Lemon Sugar Cookie. It’s a soft, chewy and rolled in granulated sugar and the recipe uses lemon and vanilla to make a perfectly balanced cookie.
RECIPE TIPS
Chill the cookie dough: There are a few reasons why chilling cookie is a smart move. Chilling the dough helps with spreading, so if the dough goes into the oven cool you typically get thicker cookies. Chilling also helps to enhance the flavor and that 30-60 minutes all those lemon vanilla flavors to shine! I find the easiest way to do this is to scoop the cookie dough and then chill it. Otherwise you are fighting to scoop the cool dough.
Cookie dough scoop: I always get a ton of questions about what scoop I use, so I wanted to link the ones I used for this recipe! I like this set because it comes in 3 different sizes. For these cookies I used the medium size. Using a cookie dough scoop gives you perfect cookie dough balls that are even and therefore will bake evenly!
Underbaking the cookies: This is essential to getting the texture right. I bake my cookies for 9 minutes on the dot and then remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet. Letting them cool on the hot pan will keep cooking them but at a lower temperature, not drying out the cookie entirely. If you prefer a dryer cookie, feel free to bake a little longer. They’re still delicious, but I’m a sucker for a chewy cookie 🙂
These Lemon Sugar Cookies are so easy. If you’re looking for a well balanced, lemony vanilla cookie you HAVE to try these. If you’re looking for other cookies, click here! If you end up trying it please leave a comment below 🙂
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Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter melted
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon zest about 1 medium lemon
- 3 tbsp lemon juice about 1 medium lemon
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling the cookies in
Instructions
- Add butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined. Add in the lemon juice and egg and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just incorporated. Cover the bowl with clear wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes.
- Once the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. While the oven is preheating, use a medium cookie dough scoop (about 2 tablespoons of dough per dough ball) and scoop 20 cookies. Roll in the remaining granulated sugar. Space 1-2 inches apart and bake for 9 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie are just set. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
This recipe looks amazing! I was wondering if I were to switch out the lemon for orange, would I just do the same amount for the juice as well? Thanks in advance!
Hi Lia, yes you can substitute orange juice and zest for the lemon in this recipe 🙂
I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar and they turned out great! My kitchen smells like lemons and sugar!
I love this recipe, the cookies are very a new favorite with my family. On a second bake, I noticed the amount of sugar doesn’t say “divided” and you don’t specify the amount for the cookie nor for rolling. I’m assuming it’s 1 cup in the dough and a half cup for rolling? Thanks!
I’m wondering if making a lemon powdered sugar mix as a frosting would be good instead of rolled in sugar
How much sugar should you use in the actual mixture? I made these but had too much sugar in them so they went flat.
[…] cookies are an orange spin on my Lemon Sugar Cookies. They are chewy, loaded with natural orange flavor and so perfect for the summer. If you end up […]
How much sugar in the dough and how much for rolling? It doesn’t state in the instructions.
There is 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the recipe and at the bottom of the ingredients 1/4 cup granulated sugar listed for rolling the cookies in! Hope this helps 🙂
Cookies did not turn out. They need baking powder in them. Made them 2 times. No both times were a fail
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Highly recommend. Perfect lemon flavor without being over-powering and the vanilla almost adds a creaminess to go along with it. Very soft, enjoyable texture.
Can I make the dough ahead of time (chill and freeze before rolling sugar)? Would I then thaw them first and then roll in sugar before baking?
definitely! I usually scoop the cookies and freeze, then pull them out and wait to roll in sugar before baking 🙂