Tasty Frosted Lemon Cookies Recipe with Lemon Zest

Serve up a batch of these frosted lemon cookies for a weekday treat. This is a lemon lover's dream. A soft baked lemon-infused cookie that is topped with Homemade Cream Cheese Lemon Frosting.

This cookie recipe is sweet, soft, citrusy, and buttery in each bite.

The fresh lemon juice and lemon zest transform these lemon sugar cookies into a whole new dimension of cookie heaven. 

You will find that this lemon cookie recipe is made from scratch and I used fresh lemons for optimal flavor.

Whip these cookies up for a baby shower, weekday dessert to serve after dinner, or to bring to a summer cookout. A delicious cookie kids and adults will enjoy. 

Soft sugar cookies are a favorite in our home. Try your hand at my strawberry sugar cookies for another fruit-flavored cookie that is a twist on a classic sugar cookie.

Also, check out my lemon curd thumbprint cookies for another unforgettable lemon dessert. 

Are you wanting more lemon recipes? Strawberry lemon bars, lemon blueberry cookies with a delicious lemon glaze, or this lemon oatmeal bars recipe. 

Shopping List

Wet Ingredients. Butter, Vegetable Oil, Egg, Lemon Extract, Lemon Zest, Butter, Cream Cheese, Lemon Juice. 

Dry Ingredients. Granulated Sugar, Powdered Sugar, All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Cream of Tartar. 

How to Make

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat to prevent cookies from sticking. 

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and cream your unsalted butter and granulated sugar together. 

Cream for 2-3 minutes, allowing the mixture to become light in color and fluffy in texture. 

Add in the egg, lemon extract, and mix for a minute or two longer. Then add in the oil and powdered sugar. Cream for another 2-3 minutes.  The mixture will turn glossy and smooth.

Now you will add your dry ingredients, all purpose flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar to the cookie batter, and mix to combine the cookie dough.  Don't over mix. Just mix until the flour is combined.

Reach for a cookie scoop, and roll the cookie dough into balls. Then roll the cookies into sugar.  I prefer to use a size #24 cookie scoop. It makes a larger cookie which is perfect as a single serve dessert.

Infused Lemon Sugar

In a separate bowl combine ⅓ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon zest. Press lemon zest into sugar until combined. The oils from the lemon will infuse with the sugar.

Roll each cookie dough scoop into the Lemon Zest Sugar to coat before placing on baking sheet allowing 2 inches of space between each cookie dough ball.

Bake the cookies as directed until the edges are set. Then place the cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely.

How to make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

To make the cream cheese lemon frosting you will add the butter and cream cheese into a bowl. Mix well. It's best if the butter and cream cheese of softened. Other wise you might get clumps of cream cheese.

Then work in the powdered sugar, you want the frosting to be nice and thick. 

Gradually mix in the fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.  Adding a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

To frost the cooled cookies, use a piping bag with a star tip, and swirl on top of each soft lemon sugar cookie. 

Then garnish with lemon zest, cookie crumbs, or leave the soft lemon cookies plain. 

FAQs

Can I use lemon glaze instead of frosting for the cookies? 

Feel free to whip up a homemade sweet lemon glaze to drizzle on top of each cookie instead of frosting. The fresh lemon glaze will add more of a citrusy punch of flavor.

Just mix powdered sugar, fresh juice, and lemon zest together to create a thick glaze. Then dip or drizzle on top of each cookie. 

Can I make these cookies ahead of time? 

I recommend that if you want to make these cookies in advance, make them a day ahead of time. I wouldn't do more than that.

Cookies dry out quickly, so a day ahead of time will work. Place the cookies in an airtight container and store the cookies in the fridge until you are ready to serve them up. 

Storage 

Refrigerate - Refrigerate any of the cookies you do not eat right away. With the cream cheese frosting, you will find it spoils if left out on the counter at room temperature. The cookies will store in the fridge for 3-5 days. 

Freezer - You can also freeze any lemon cookies you don't eat right away. Place parchment paper between each layer of cookies in a freezer-friendly container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Then thaw in the fridge overnight before you plan to eat. 

Substitute Or Variations

Butter - I used salted butter for this cookie recipe. If you want to use unsalted butter simply add ¼ teaspoon of butter to the cookie recipe. The salt is imperative to help bring out the flavors of the cookies.

Chocolate - You can mix in chopped white chocolate or melt and drizzle on top of the lemon cookies for a change from the lemon frosting you will pipe on top.

Meyer Lemons - For a more vibrant lemon flavor, reach for Meyer lemons in replace of a classic lemon. Watch your cookies come to life with citrus and tangy goodness.

Lemon Extract - Try using LorAnn Lemon Emulsion. It has a punch of great flavor and I prefer to use it over a standard extract when possible.

Tips For Success 

Zesting Lemons 

Make sure when you go to zest a lemon so that you only get the yellow portion of the lemon peel when you zest. If you get the white flesh it will cause the zest to be bitter, and it will affect the flavor of your cookies. 

Mixer 

You do not have to use a mixer but I do find it offers the best texture to these light and tender lemon lovers cookies. You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer for whipping up the cookie dough.

The electric mixer works great at creating a really light and fluffy texture to the butter and sugar. This offers the best results in a very flaky buttery cookie. I use medium speed to medium-high speed when I cream the butter and sugar. 

You can of course use a whisk and a mixing bowl if you prefer. It will just take more arm strength to whip up the cookie dough enough. 

Cooling Racks

I use a wire rack for cooling my cookies once I remove them from the oven. Just remove cookies from the cookie sheets and place them right on the cooling rack. This allows an even cooling around the whole cookie and will speed up the cooling process. 

It is important that before you frost your cookies, they are completely cooled. Otherwise, the frosting will melt off the cookies. 

• Kitchen Scale. I use this for accuracy in measuring and it's a life saver when it comes to consistent baking
• Wire Rack for cooling cookies. I like to have at least 2 cooling racks
• Mixing Bowls. A Large Mixing Bowl for mixing ingredients and small and medium mixing bowls for other ingredients
• Cookie Sheet. Most recipes will take 2 batches to bake. It's great to have multiple baking sheets available
• Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat. Line Cookie Sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up and to prevent sticking.
• Cookie Scoop. A small #60 Cookie Scoop or a Medium Cookie Scoop #50 are great choices for uniform drops of cookie dough.
• Storage Container. An Airtight Container to store cookies or ZipLoc Bags work great too.
• Additional supplies. Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons along with silicone spatula are all helpful

Weighing Ingredients.

Baking is a science, and adding too much or too little of any of the ingredients will alter the recipe. Weighing and measuring dry ingredients properly makes a world of difference. Investing in a kitchen scale is ideal. When a kitchen scale is not available, make sure to stir and lift ingredients before scooping them into a measuring cup.

	Volume	Ounces	Grams
All Purpose Flour	1 Cup	4½ Ounces	120 Grams
Bread Flour	1 Cup	4½ Ounces	120 Grams
Granulated Sugar	1 Cup	7 Ounces	200 Grams
Brown Sugar	1 Cup	7½ Ounces	213 Grams
Confectionary Sugar	1 Cup	4 Ounces	113 Grams

To find out more, check out my Pro Tips Guide for making the best cookies every time!

Have you tried this Lemon Sugar Cookies recipe?

Let me know what you think of this recipe! Tag @bestcookierecipes on social media so I can see how great your cookies turned out! I would also love to read your comments below. Let me know what you think of these cookies. It really does help!