Very Lemon Cookies Recipes

LEMON COOKIES FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Cream sugar, butter, and lemon zest together in a large bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Combine eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a cup; mix using a fork until combined. Beat into egg mixture slowly on low speed.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add to egg mixture slowly on low speed until just combined. Do not overbeat; dough will be sticky. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes; it will still be sticky after chilling.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Form dough into balls using a cookie scoop or tablespoon and roll each in powdered sugar. Place onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Lightly smash each ball down using your hand.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the middle of each cookie is just barely set, 11 to 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack completely before storing in an airtight container.

VERY LEMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
• To prepare the dough:
• In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fully. Add the egg, vanilla, baking powder, salt, lemon oil, and lemon powder, beating on medium speed until well blended. Add the flour and coconut, beating until thoroughly combined. Use food color to tint the cookies yellow. Gel-paste food color will give the most intense color; be aware that with paste colors, you only need to add the merest touch. Dip a toothpick in the color, and then dip it into the dough. Repeat a couple of times. Mix the dough, adding more color until it's as intense as you like.
• To shape the cookies: Place the coarse sugar in a small bowl. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls into the bowl, one at a time, shaking the bowl to coat with sugar. Gently roll cookies into smooth balls with your hands, then transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
• To bake the cookies: Bake the cookies for 9 to 10 minutes, for soft cookies. For crunchier cookies, bake for 12 minutes, until they're barely beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven, and after a few minutes transfer them to a rack to cool.
• Variation: You can make these cookies using fresh lemons instead of lemon powder and lemon oil (though they won't be nearly as intensely citrus-y). Substitute 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (the juice of one medium-large lemon), and the grated rind from one lemon. You may also omit the coconut and/or food coloring, if you like. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until they feel barely set in the center (for softer cookies); or 14 minutes (for crisper cookies).

LEMON VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Put the butter, granulated sugar, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches and mix until just combined.
• Scoop the dough with a 2-ounce cookie scoop, filling it fully with the dough. Then shape it into a straight-sided patty (like a hockey puck) that is 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Put the formed cookie on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat to make 7 to 8 more cookies and making sure there is at least 1 inch of space around each cookie on the baking sheet.
• Bake until the cookies have spread out and flattened by about half and the bottoms are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through the cooking time. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
• Flip your cookies upside down so the flattest side is up. Use the yellow icing to make a thin line around the edge of each cookie. Then make 2 loops around the interior of the yellow border with the white icing and use a toothpick to fill in any gaps between the two colors. Fill in the middle space with the yellow icing and then make a circle with the white directly in the center. Immediately use a scribe or toothpick to lightly drag from the edge of the cookie to the middle to create the segments of your lemon. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
• Let the icing dry and crust over or serve immediately.

LEMON CRISP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add egg, lemon zest, juice, vanilla and beat again.
• In Separate bowl, Sift together Baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.
• Add dry ingredients to wet in two batches, until just blended.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Sprinkle with colored sugar.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
• Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute then move to a cooling rack.

LEMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, mixing in lemon juice and zest after adding flour.