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Lemon Butter Cookies

If you are a fan of sweet and tart lemon desserts, these Lemon Butter Cookies are for you. They have a light cakey texture and powdered sugar icing that can’t be beat!

2 Lemon butter cookies on a plate, half of a lemon, glass of lemonade.

Why You Will Love these Lemon Butter Cookies

  • They are soft and buttery with plenty tangy lemon flavor.
  • Simple pantry ingredients for a quick and easy dessert.
  • No chilling required.
  • They are not overly sweet.

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Ingredients Needed for Soft Lemon Cookies

  • Salted Butter
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Lemon – Zest and Juice
  • Lemon Extract
  • Vanilla Extract
  • King Arthur Flours” rel=”sponsored nofollow”>All Purpose Flour
  • Baking Powder

For the Glaze

  • Powdered Sugar
  • Lemon Juice
Lemon butter cookies with icing on a platter.

Step By Step Directions

Collage making lemon cookie dough.
  1. In a mixing bowl, add softened butter and powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer about 2 minutes.
  2. Add eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.  
  3. Add flour and baking powder, beat until well combined.
Lemon cookie dough on a baking sheet.
  1. Use a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon full rounded into balls and place 2 inches apart on greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.
Lemon cookies baked on a baking sheet.
  1. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are light brown around the edges.  
  2. Cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, move to wire rack to finish cooling.
Bowl of powdered sugar icing for cookies.
  1. Mix up the icing in a small bowl, whisking together powdered sugar and lemon juice.
Cookies with icing on a wire rack.
  1. Spoon icing over the cookies and allow to completely set up.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Skip the Glaze: You can skip the glaze for these cookies but the glaze does add more lemon flavor.

If you are a fan of lemon desserts, you will also love these shortbread-like Citrus Butter Cookies and you can’t go wrong with Lemon Bars with cream cheese icing.

Lemon Butter cookies with icing on a lemon platter.

Try these Lemon Butter Cookies for a soft and cakey cookie with tons of lemon flavor for a quick and easy dessert.

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Lemon Butter Cookies

If you are a fan of sweet and tart lemon desserts, these Lemon Butter Cookies are for you. They have a light cakey texture and powdered sugar icing that can't be beat!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: butter, cookies, lemon, lemon zest
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 290kcal
Author: Milisa

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a mixing bowl, add softened butter and powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer about 2 minutes.
  • Add eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
  • Add flour and baking powder, beat until well combined.
  • Use a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon full rounded into balls and place 2 inches apart on greased or lined cookie sheets.  
  • Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are starting to brown on the edges.  
  • Cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, move to wire rack to finish cooling.
  • Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice together in a small bowl.
  • Spoon icing over the cookies and allow to set up before storing.

Notes

Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Skip the Glaze: You can skip the glaze for these cookies but the glaze does add more lemon flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 201mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g

2 Comments

    1. Thanks Laura,
      I have not tried freezing them but I do think it would work if you freeze them in a single layer or with parchment in between the layers. Let me know how they do if you try it!

      ~ Milisa

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