Soft Chewy Lemon Cookies (Printable)
Soft, chewy lemon cookies bursting with fresh citrus, baked in under 30 minutes and perfect with tea.
# What You'll Need:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
02 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
03 - ¼ teaspoon salt
→ Wet Ingredients
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
05 - 1 cup granulated sugar
06 - ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
07 - 2 large eggs
08 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
09 - 2 teaspoons lemon zest
10 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
→ For Rolling
11 - ⅓ cup granulated sugar
# Directions:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
03 - In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
04 - Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
05 - Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Do not overmix.
06 - Scoop tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll each ball in the remaining granulated sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
07 - Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers remain soft.
08 - Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The dough comes together in fifteen minutes with nothing fancy required, just a mixer and a couple of bowls.
- That crackled sugar coating gives each cookie a slight crunch before you hit the soft chewy center.
- They taste like sunshine on a gray afternoon and pair beautifully with tea or a glass of cold milk.
02 -
- Overbaking is the enemy of soft cookies, so pull them out when the centers still look a touch wet because they firm up as they cool.
- Zesting directly into the dough instead of onto a cutting board keeps all the essential oils where they belong.
03 -
- Chill the dough for thirty minutes if your kitchen runs hot because firm dough spreads less and stays thicker.
- Use a microplane for zesting since it captures only the fragrant yellow layer and none of the bitter white pith underneath.