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Do you love Lemon Cookies as much as we do? I recently had a lemon cupcake cookie that was delicious but only available for a week. I have craved them ever since so I knew I needed to try to make them at home. Keep reading to learn how to make soft lemon cookies and lemon buttercream frosting.
Want more lemon cookie recipes? Try our Strawberry Lemonade Cookie Recipe here.

How to Make Lemon Cookies
I really wanted lemon cookies that were soft and stayed soft and had more than a hint of lemon flavor. We love lemon-flavored desserts and often wish they had more lemon than they do.
That is not the case with these lemon cookies. If you like lemon these are the cookies for you. Let’s look at the ingredients needed for this recipe.
Lemon Cookie Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter – room temp
- Sugar
- Lemon Zest
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Eggs – room temp
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
Lemon Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter – room temp
- Powdered Sugar
- Salt
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest – finely zested
Cookie Recipe Instructions
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set to the side.
In a mixer beat unsalted butter, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Add fresh lemon juice and egg. Continue to beat until well combined.
Slowly add dry ingredients keeping the mixer speed on low.
Your dough should resemble sugar cookie dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
Baking Lemon Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
After the cookie dough has chilled roll spoonfuls of dough into a ball and roll in sugar

Place dough balls on cookie sheet with plenty of room between them.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Do not over bake. Cookies are done when the top is no longer glossy and the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
Allow lemon cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

How to Frost Lemon Cookies
Our lemon buttercream frosting recipe is so easy. Combine room temp butter, salt, lemon juice, and finely zested lemon zest with hand mixer. Beat until completely combined. Slowly add powdered sugar and continue to mix until everything is combined.
Frost cool cookies with as little or as much frosting as you would like. We used a butter knife to apply frosting in a circular fashion pushing it out to the edges.
Frosting will firm as it sets allowing for easy transport.

As a final touch garnish with a little lemon zest or very thin lemon quarters.

Final Thoughts on Lemon Cookies with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
We are obsessed with these cookies. We brought them to a family party and 30+ cookies were consumed by 20+ people and everyone loved them.
Feedback we received was:
- These are so good! I love the lemon flavor, most lemon cookies just have a hit of lemon.
- They’re so soft! Do you have more?
- Where did you get these?! Which we took as a huge compliment that they thought we had purchased them from a cookie shop.
Those were just a few that stuck out. We were so happy that everyone loved them.
If you enjoy lemon flavor you need to try these cookies. They’re super simple to make and to be honest DELICIOUS even without the frosting if you’re looking to decrease the lemon flavor a little bit.
If you have any questions leave them in the comments and we’ll answer them for you!

Soft Lemon Cookies
A soft lemon cookie recipe filled with lemon flavor for all the lemon fans out there.
Ingredients
- 1 C. Unsalted Butter - Room Temp
- 1 3/4 C. Sugar
- 4 TBSP Lemon Zest
- 5 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Egg - Room Temp
- 3-3.5 C. Flour (reserve 1/2 cup to add as needed)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 C. Sugar - for rolling cookie dough
Instructions
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt into bowl and set aside.
Beat unsalted butter, sugar, and lemon zest until totally combined.
Add lemon juice and egg. Beat until combined, scraping sides down.
Slowly add dry ingredients keeping mixer on low. Add reserved flour a spoonful at a time as needed until mixture resembles sugar cookie dough.
When done cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and roll dough into balls and roll in sugar.
Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes.
Don't overcook the cookies.
Cookies are done when tops are no longer glossy and the edges are just starting to turn golden brown.
Allow to cool for about 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Rich lemon flavored buttercream frosting perfect for cupcakes and cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 C. Unsalted Butter - room temp
- 4.5 - 5 C. Powdered Sugar (reserve 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 C. Fresh Lemon Juice
- 3 TBSP Lemon Zest finely zestedCom
Instructions
- Mix butter, lemon juice, salt, and lemon zest until fluffy.
- Slowly add powdered sugar reserving 1/2 cup to use as needed.
- Mix until completely combined.
Notes
Mix all ingredients adding powdered sugar last reserving half cup to add as needed.
Use to frost cookies, cupcakes, or even cakes!
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