Glazed Lemon Cookies
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These Glazed Lemon Cookies feature soft, lemony cookies topped with a sweet lemon glaze. They are the best lemon cookies and they come together easily, with simple pantry ingredients.
Soft, tender, and full of lemon flavor, these glazed lemon cookies are guaranteed to be your new favorite cookie this spring and summer.
Lemon is infused into every bite by using a combination of lemon juice and zest in the cookie dough and the glaze. There’s no lack of lemon flavor here!
They are made super soft by using greek yogurt in the dough. This gives the cookies a cake-like texture. The dough is sweetened with sugar and a hint of honey.
Prepare a big batch of these glazed lemon cookies for your next spring or summer gathering. They’re a softer twist on my chewy lemon cookies and Meyer lemon cookies. Everyone will love them!
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- Flour – All-purpose flour is used here.
- Baking soda – The leavening agent used in this cookie recipe.
- Salt – Kosher salt is used to balance the flavors.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in baking. This should be softened
- Sugar – This recipe uses white granulated sugar and light brown sugar for the cookies and confectioners’ sugar for the glaze.
- Egg – Add a bit of richness to the dough.
- Greek Yogurt – The secret ingredient, adds moisture and a little zing.
- Honey – Just adds a little something extra.
- Lemon – Fresh lemon juice and lemon zest are both used. Lemon juice is in the cookies and glaze, and lemon zest gives the cookies an extra citrus punch.
Recommended Tools
- A simple hand mixer is needed to bake the batter.
- These are my favorite baking sheets for baking cookies.
How to Make Glazed Lemon Cookies
These citrusy cookies require no chilling time, which makes them a delightfully quick treat.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
- Combine dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, combine the butter and sugars together on high speed until creamy.
- Add remaining liquids. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, then add the yogurt, honey, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat until combined.
- Combine. Keep the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Beat everything until just combined – don’t over mix. The dough will be very sticky and thick.
- Bake. Drop the batter by level tablespoons 1-inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheet for five minutes then place on a wire cooling rack before glazing.
- Make the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until all sugar has dissolved.
- Glaze the cookies. Spoon the icing over the cookies once they have cooled completely. Sprinkle with lemon zest if desired. Allow the iced cookies to sit until the icing sets and hardens, about 2 hours.
Handy tip:
Don’t rush! It is very important that these cookies be cooled completely before try to glaze them. The glaze will melt if the cookies are still warm. After the baking time is up, set them on a wire rack to cool completely before glazing them.
Tips For Success
- You only need ¼ cup of yogurt and if it’s something you don’t usually keep on hand, you just need to purchase one single-serving container.
- The batter is thick like cake batter. You can’t roll it like normal cookie batter. Instead, you need a 1 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to drop mounds of batter directly onto the baking sheet.
- The glaze on the cookies will harden after a few hours. This will make it easy to store the cookies without them getting all messy.
Storage & Freezing
- Glazed cookies will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Baked, unglazed cookies will freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then bring to room temperature before glazing and serving.
Glazed Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 ¾ cups (227 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons (99 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) plain Greek Yogurt, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (84 g) honey
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, about 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, about 1 lemon
For the glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- lemon zest, optional
Equipment
- Microplane works best for zesting citrus
Instructions
Make the cookies
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine and set aside.
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, then add the yogurt, honey, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Turn the speed to medium-high and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Beat everything until just combined. Take care not to overmix. The dough will be very sticky and thick.
- Drop the batter by level tablespoons 1-inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
Make the glaze
- Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a mall bowl. Stir until all sugar has dissolved.
- Spoon the icing over the cookies once they have cooled completely. Sprinkle with lemon zest if desired. Allow the iced cookies to sit until the icing sets and hardens, about 2 hours.
Notes
- Flour: Measure correctly! If you add too much flour, you may end up with dense cookies that don’t spread.
- Butter: If the butter is too warm or melted the cookies could spread too much.
- Lemon juice: I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice for that bright lemon flavor.
- Storage: Glazed cookies will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Baked, unglazed cookies will freeze well for up to 2-3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then bring to room temperature before glazing and serving.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Do you have a link to your meyer lemon version? If not, should I reduce the sugar if using meyer lemons? Thanks!
Unfortunately, I don’t. But the recipe is exactly the same as this, with Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons.
can i just skip the light brown sugar?
Don’t skip it but replace it with more granulated sugar.
Lemon is also my favorite dessert! I can’t wait to make these!
Lemon is also my favorite dessert! I can’t wait to make these!