If you love lemon desserts, you’re in luck! These Simple Lemon Cookies are no doubt the BEST! Very easy to make and no scooping involved. Just slice and bake. It’s one of my holiday favorites!
It’s the baking season! I made tons of cookies yesterday. Other than the normal chocolate chip cookies, I also made many simple lemon cookies. These cookies were delicious. They had the shortbread texture, but with a lemony taste. I love adding crystal sugar on top of the cookies to give some extra crunch. These cookies are beautiful and easy to make. They are perfect homemade gifts for your friends and neighbors.
Simple Lemon Cookies
Makes about 56 cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)(at room temperature)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (about 4 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 egg yolks
- yellow sugar crystal (optional)
Lemon icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 – 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt together.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until light and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Scrap down the sides occasionally. Add egg yolks and beat until just blend. Add flour mixture and beat just to blend. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 8-inch long log (1½-inch diameter). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of the oven.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment papers. Unwrap 1 dough log. Cut the ends, then cut the log into ¼-inch rounds with a sharp knife. If there are little holes in the middle of a round, patch using the end parts that you cut out. Transfer the rounds to the prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.
- Bake until cookies for about 16 – 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back after 9 minutes. Bake until the cookies are firm and golden grown around edges. Take out the baking sheets and let the cookies cool for 1 minute. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks and let cool completely.
- Repeat with the remaining dough log using cooled baking sheets and new parchment papers.
- For the icing, whisk sugar and 1½ tablespoon juice in a small bowl. Test the icing thickness with a fork until the icing to reach a drizzling consistency. Add more juice if the icing is too thick. Drizzle the icing over the cookies. Decorate as desired. Let stand until icing sets, about 30 minutes.
Notes
- Do not throw away the dough ends. Collect them and patch them together to make more rounds. They may not look as perfect as the cut out ones, but they are good enough to eat.
- I like to cut my rounds all at once, then line them back together like a log and wrap with plastic wrap. When I’m ready to bake the next trays, I can just take the rounds out and bake.
- Make sure the icing is not too runny. If not, it will be hard to set on the cookies.
- For storage, put the cookies in a tightly sealed container. They can be store up to 4 days.
These cookies look and sound delicious. I have plenty of Meyer Lemons and I think I’ll use those to try your recipe. 🙂
Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Thank you! Have a great holiday!
I’m slightly obsessed with lemons (especially when butter is involved). These cookies look amazing!! 😀
Thanks, Valerie! I love lemons too! Give these a try! I am sure you will love them.