These yummy lemon cookies have delicious chewy middles, crisp edges, and a sweet citrus flavor. I love them with tea for an afternoon treat!
These lemon cookies are my new favorite treat! They have that bakery-perfect chewy middle with a lightly crisp edge and a lovely balance of light and bright citrus flavor. I’ll be making them on repeat throughout the holiday season, but honestly, these lemon cookies are so delicious that I would happily take one any day of the year.
This lemon cookie recipe comes from my friend Melissa Coleman’s book The Minimalist Kitchen. You may know of her blog, The Faux Martha. If you don’t, go check it out – you’ll absolutely love her. She has wonderfully approachable mealtime recipes, highly do-able organizational tips (check out her pretty pantry), and, man, can that girl bake.
Lemon Cookies Ingredients
This lemon cookie recipe is an excellent example of Melissa’s baking prowess. It’s SO delicious! Here’s what you need to make it:
- All-purpose flour makes up the base of the dough. Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup!
- Cornmeal and poppyseeds give these cookies substance and contribute to their delectable crisp/chewy texture.
- Baking soda helps them rise.
- Sea salt highlights the lemon flavor.
- Sugar sweetens them up.
- Butter and olive oil combine to add richness and accent the citrus essence.
- Fresh lemon juice and orange and lemon zest make them bright and citrusy. Skip the orange zest and use all lemon if you prefer!
- And an egg puffs them up and perfects their moist, chewy middles.
That’s it! Let’s bake.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Lemon Cookies
This lemon cookie recipe is simple to make—you don’t even have to chill the cookie dough! Here’s how it goes:
First, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Next, mix the wet ingredients. Cream the butter, sugar, and citrus zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the oil, egg, and lemon juice and mix until pale and well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Then, combine the wet and dry. Add the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients, and mix on low speed until just combined.
Finally, scoop and bake the cookies! Use a 1/4-cup cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving an inch or so between each scoop. Sprinkle the tops with sugar, then bake at 350°F for 12 minutes.
Let cool on the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
These photos make these lemon cookies look kind of small, but made with a 1/4-cup cookie scoop, they’re a perfect 1-cookie afternoon indulgence with a cup of coffee or tea.
Recipe Tips
- Underbaking is the secret to soft lemon cookies. The cookies might seem underdone when you check them at the 12 minute mark, but take them out of the oven anyway! As they cool, they’ll set up with perfect crisp edges and soft, chewy middles. If you bake them longer, the middles will have a cakier texture.
- A lemon glaze makes the citrus flavor pop. For an extra-lemony treat, drizzle these cookies with my quick lemon glaze. It’s easy to make with just 2 ingredients: powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice!
- These cookies freeze perfectly. Stash them in an airtight container in the freezer for an easy dessert down the road!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these lemon cookies, try one of these favorite cookie recipes next:
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1½ teaspoons lemon zest
- 1½ teaspoons orange zest
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and zests on medium speed until well combined. Add the oil, egg, and lemon juice. Continue mixing until pale and evenly combined, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. The dough will be somewhat dense.
- Using a 1/4-cup sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet (note: these cookies will spread, so leave some room in between each one), and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will seem like they need a minute longer, but take them out anyways. Let cool on the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
I bake a lot of cookies, and go through a lot of recipes… This is a wonderful cookie! I’m so used to heavy cookies, and this is the complete opposite. The texture is on point, the flavor is great. (Agree with some previous comments about a lemon glaze on top) I did make them with a 1 oz. scooper and reduced the cook time to 10 minutes, and they are absolutely amazing! Perfect for a summer/spring day. Will definitely be making these again! Thank you for sharing this with everyone!!! 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them as much as I did!
I was hoping for a more pronounced zesty lemon flavor but they were good.
I made these today and they were delicious. The texture is my favorite. Soft on the inside and a slight crisp on the outside. I love anything lemon. I made 1/2 exactly as written. And added a lemon glaze on the other 1/2. Both were great! My family can’t get enough. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Amazing! So delicious!
I love the olive oil , I can actually taste that a little bit. The two citruses is so smart. Mine didn’t flatten as much and therefore I may have felt they needed to cook a little longer so they have a little more resemblance of a scone. That happens to be our favorite so THANK YOU !! This will be a go to for ever
This is an awesome article .. Thanks a lot man
Hi, this looks like. I have a quick question.
Can I use cornflour instead of cornmeal? Thank you!
Hi Shai, no, I’m sorry, the texture of the two are too different.
I have veganized the recipe using margarine and a flax egg and they’ve come out great!
As someone already mentioned, their flavour is quite subtle, so next time I would probably add a bit more zest and juice as well.
Thanks for the recipe! These cookies are making me happy in these crazy times.
Greetings from an all but locked down Switzerland.
Hi Sara, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
I’ve been waiting to make these until the weather got nicer in Chicago. I made these over the weekend for my sister’s bridal shower. They were a hit at the party and with me! I would recommend you try them! Easy and delicious!
I’m so glad you loved them! I’m absolutely obsessed with them too 🙂
Can I sub earth balance margarine for the butter if I want to veganize this recipe? And do you know if I would use the same amount if I did that? Thank you! 🙂
I couldn’t find poppy seeds at my local grocery store, could i use chia seeds instead? Or best to leave it out altogether?
I’d just leave them out – I’m not sure what chia seeds will do since they have a way of thickening when mixed with liquids. I think the cookies will still be terrific without the poppy seeds. Hope that helps!
Which kind of cornmeal is used?
just regular plain cornmeal – I get mine in the bulk bin at whole foods, I’m not sure if it has a brand name.
This looks delicious! I am sure I would try this at home when I have some free time and my small children would love them!
Just baked these and I would rate them pretty good at first attempt. For me they did not have enough citrus flavor. For my taste I’d cut back on the sugar a bit (maybe 3/4 cup) and use more zest and lemon juice, or a drop of lemon oil in the dough. The texture is really nice but when it says “take them out even though they look like they need another minute”, they mean it. They can overbake quickly. Next time I might also try brushing them with a lemon juice syrup glaze for extra lemon flavor.
These sound DELISH!
These are four-star cookies! Easy and so good.
I love citrus and poppy seeds combined! These cookies look so delicious and perfect for Christmas too!
These are five-star cookies! Easy and so good.
These are very tasty and it was nice to make something other than chocolate chip cookies! I used whole wheat flour and a flax egg and they turned out great!
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved them! Thanks for letting me know that it worked with a flax egg – did you use vegan butter?
Nope,I stuck with real butter for the flavor.
These sound DELISH!
I love the idea of lemon poppyseed cookies! So unique and creative!