Chewy and Zesty Lemon Sugar Cookies

About These Lemon Sugar Cookies

These chewy and zesty lemon sugar cookies are unapologetically lemony thanks to fresh lemon zest and lemon oil in the cookie dough, along with a fresh lemon zest sugar coating! These buttery cookies are crisp on the edges, but with perfectly chewy and ever-so-slightly doughy centers bursting with a lemon and butter flavor. They’re the perfect springtime cookie!

For more unique and delicious cookie recipes, check out Hummingbird High’s Cookie Recipe Collection! Popular recipes include these Lavender Earl Grey Cookies and these Strawberry Rose Snickeroodles.

And a big thank you to Land O’Lakes for sponsoring this recipe! Learn more in the blog post, and thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep Hummingbird High up and running!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make chewy lemon sugar cookies, here’s your shopping list for the recipe:

Shopping List for Chewy and Zesty Lemon Sugar Cookies Recipe

• granulated sugar
• lemons OR Meyer lemons
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• kosher salt
• Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter
• large eggs
• lemon oil OR extract

And let’s talk about some key ingredients and any potential substitutions:

Regular Versus Meyer Lemons

In the grocery store, the most common varieties of lemons are “regular” lemons and Meyer lemons.

Regular lemons are typically Eureka or Lisbon lemons and are larger than their Meyer lemon counterparts. They have thick, textured bright skin and an acidic taste. They are typically available in grocery stores year-round.

In contrast, Meyer lemons are smaller, with a thin, smoother skin. Although they are still acidic, they are sweeter than regular lemons. Meyer lemons are more seasonal and typically available in grocery stores from December to May.

For these chewy lemon sugar cookies, you can use either variety. If you use Meyer lemons, your cookies will taste slightly sweeter and more floral. But either way is plenty tasty!

Why You Should Use Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter In This Recipe

Real Talk: Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter is the all-purpose MVP butter I use in my recipes. To me, Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter is the standard to which I hold all other butters. It improves every recipe—baking or otherwise—that I use it in. I love it so much that I even used it while testing all the recipes in my cookbook, Weeknight Baking! The best part? Land O’Lakes is farmer-owned, meaning that the 1,700+ farmers who provide milk for Land O’Lakes product have a stake in the company. You can learn more on Land O’Lakes’ website!

But back to the recipe. When it comes to baking, I also prefer to use unsalted butter. Doing so allows you to control the amount of salt in the recipe. It ensures that you don’t end up with a baked good that’s overly salty or umami!

What’s lemon oil?

In a fancy gourmet ingredient shop, you’ll see bottles of lemon oil alongside bottles of lemon extract. Here’s the difference between the two: extracts are made by extracting the flavor of the source ingredient into alcohol. For instance, manufacturers typically make vanilla extract by steeping vanilla beans in alcohol for an extended period of time. Similarly, manufacturers sometimes make lemon extract by steeping lemon rinds in alcohol. More likely, however, manufacturers artificially recreate lemon flavor for extract in a food lab.

On the other hand, manufacturers make flavoring oils by squeezing essential oils from the ingredient itself. That means that lemon oil is actually made from oils squeezed out of lemon rinds and zest. As a result, lemon oil is much more concentrated and intense than lemon extract. Its flavor is much purer and clearer, without any of the sharp alcohol taste you can sometimes get from extract.

That sounds great! Now where do I get lemon oil?

You can sometimes buy lemon oil in fancy grocery stores, as well as specialty herb and spice shops. However, lemon oil is also readily available online.

At the end of the day, lemon extract is more accessible than lemon oil. So if you don’t want to source lemon oil, rest assured that these chewy lemon sugar cookies are plenty tasty with lemon extract. You can find lemon extract in the baking aisle of any major supermarket, typically in the same section as the vanilla extract.

How To Make The Recipe

Here are the basic steps to make chewy and zesty lemon sugar cookies from scratch:

First, make the cookie dough.

1. Prep the ingredients for the cookie dough. (Prep Time: 10 minutes)
   Thankfully, prep for this recipe is fairly easy. Simply measure out all the ingredients and make sure ingredients like the Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter and egg are at the temperatures specified in the recipe. That’s it!
   
   
2. Make the lemon sugar for the cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   To make lemon sugar, place the granulated sugar for the cookies in the stand mixer bowl. Use a microplane grater or citrus zester to zest two medium lemons over the sugar. Then, rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. Doing so will release oils that will absorb into the sugar and make the cookies more flavorful!
   
   
3. Make the cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   This chewy lemon sugar cookie recipe follows most standard cookie recipes and comes together quickly. Add the Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter to the lemon sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Then, add the egg, lemon oil or extract, and dry ingredients. That’s it!

Next, prep the cookie dough for chilling.

1. Scoop the cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   The fastest and easiest way to make picture-perfect cookies is to invest in a cookie dough scoop. These handy tools scoop the dough into dough balls that bake into perfect cookie circles every time. In general, I use a 3-Tablespoon or 4-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to make my cookie recipes. These cookie dough scoops make perfect 3- to 3.5-inch-wide cookies.
   
   Typically, I instruct you to scoop the cookies onto lined sheet pans, perfectly spaced apart for baking. However, since you’re chilling the dough, you can scoop them all onto the same quarter sheet pan next to each other. Doing so ensures there’s enough space in your fridge for everything!
   
   
2. Chill the cookie dough. (Chill Time: 1 hour)
   Loosely cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before baking. This chill time has two functions:
   
   First, it leads to more flavorful cookies since it allows the flour and sugars to absorb more flavors from the Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter, lemon zest, and lemon flavoring.
   
   Second, it helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. If baked immediately, the cookies have a tendency to spread too thin and wrinkle around the edges. However, chilling the cookie dough for 1 hour prevents this from happening.

Now, assemble the cookies and bake them.

1. Preheat the oven.
   I like to preheat the oven about 30 minutes into the cookie dough’s chill time. Doing so ensures that the oven is ready to go when the cookies are!
   
   
2. Make the lemon sugar for the coating. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   This recipe instructs you to coat the cookies in lemon sugar. I like to make the lemon sugar when the oven is preheating to give the sugar time to absorb oils and flavors from the zest. Similar to the lemon sugar for the cookie dough, place the granulated sugar for the coating in a shallow bowl and zest a medium lemon over the sugar.
   
   
3. Toss the cookie dough balls in the coating. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   Place one or two cookie dough balls in the bowl with the sugar coating, then toss to coat completely. Place the coated cookies at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.
   
   
4. Bake the chewy lemon sugar cookies. (Bake Time: 10 minutes)
   The chewy lemon sugar cookies need 10 to 12 minutes in the oven. When done, the edges should be set. However, the centers will still look a little soft and underdone. That’s normal! In fact, that’s the secret to a perfect cookie with a chewy center.

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Do I really have to chill the cookie dough before baking?

In a pinch, no, you can get away with NOT chilling the lemon sugar cookie dough. You can assemble the cookies right after making the dough and bake them straight away. However, I don’t recommend it.

Why? I mentioned earlier that, if you bake the cookies straight away, the edges tend to spread too much thanks to the generous amount of butter in the recipe. While there’s nothing wrong with crispy and thin edges, it can sometimes lead to burnt and wrinkly edges in the wrong oven. Chilling the dough helps prevent this issue!

Can you freeze chewy lemon sugar cookies?

Yes! You can freeze chewy lemon sugar cookies in the following ways:

Freeze the unbaked cookie dough.

After portioning the dough into balls, place the balls on a parchment lined-sheet pan and freeze for 30 minutes, or until the dough is hard enough to handle without being sticky. Transfer to a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Note that the dough will be frozen WITHOUT the lemon sugar coating. When ready to bake, you’ll need to roll the cookie dough balls in the coating. There’s no need to thaw the cookie dough balls before baking. Follow the instructions for baking in the recipe, but increase the Bake Time to 12 to 14 minutes. 

Freeze the baked chewy lemon sugar cookies.

Individually wrap any leftover cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave before serving.