Everyone LOVES lemon, especially in the spring and summer. I made these cookies for my fellow teachers to celebrate Easter and our upcoming Spring Break. While I enjoy a good lemon cookie, adding lemon frosting makes these cookies absolutely irresistible. They have quickly become one of my favorite treats to both make and eat. My coworkers were thrilled with them. When I first made them, I was unsure how to transport them without damaging the beautiful frosting. I decided to use some cellophane packets I had left over from Christmas. After letting the frosting harden, I placed each cookie in its own cellophane wrapper, and it worked perfectly.
There are countless lemon cookie recipes on Pinterest, each with varying amounts of lemon juice and zest. I love the taste of lemon in my cookies, and these cookies strike the perfect balance—not too overpowering, but definitely flavorful. If you can’t taste the lemon, what’s the point of making lemon cookies? I hope you enjoy making these as much as I do.
One great thing about this recipe is that you don’t need to roll out the dough—no rolling pin or flour mess on your kitchen counters. This is definitely an easy cookie recipe that you’ll want to make again and again.
To give these cookies a beautifully decorated top, I like to use a piping bag with a star tip. If you don’t have one or prefer not to use it, you can always frost the cookies with an offset spatula.
The prep and cooking take about 30 minutes, so this would make a quick, tasty, and beautiful dessert for any gathering!
INGREDIENTS
Cookie Dough:
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 whole lemon (juice)
- 1 whole lemon (zest)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Lemon Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 dash salt
- 1 whole lemon (zest)
- 1 whole lemon (fresh juice)
- 1 Tbsp milk, if needed
Directions:
- Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest until well combined.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Roll the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place them on lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.
- Bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are barely light brown. Let the cookies sit on the pan for 3-4 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.
- Cool the cookies completely.
- Beat together the butter, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add milk if needed. The frosting should be thick if you are piping it, but you can add more liquid if you are spreading it on with a spatula.
