These Glazed Lemon Cookies pack a double-whammy of bright, citrusy flavor for pure sunshine in a bite! Basic sugar cookies are livened up with flavorful lemon extract and topped with a simple, 4-ingredient icing that’s perfectly pucker-worthy.

This zesty variation on sugar cookies is a particular treat in the colder months when the sun is nowhere to be found. Make a batch for a fun addition to your Christmas cookie plates or, on a random chilly evening, just because!

copper platter with glazed lemon cookies, some of which are garnished with sanding sugar.

About This Recipe

These tender sugar cookies have been a favorite treat of my family for years. If you’re a fan of citrus desserts, you’re going to flip over these soft lemon cookies; they’re simply bursting with flavor!

Whether you serve them for a late afternoon tea, pack them into your lunches for a little treat, or offer them as your dinner party dessert (perhaps after serving my Baked Tilapia Veracruz?), you’re sure to love them.

They are laced with lots of scintillating lemon flavor. While this recipe does take some time to make, it isn’t difficult and the results are surely worth it.

You can also get a jump on the holidays by making the dough in advance and freezing it! It will last for up to three months in the freezer. You’re welcome, future you.

wooden board with glazed lemon sugar cookies next to a box of land o lakes unsalted butter

Butter

For the best sugar cookies around, I suggest you reach for Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter. Sold all across the US, Land O Lakes is my go-to butter brand. The quality is simply unparalleled, which isn’t surprising given that they’ve been in business for over 100 years!

One of my favorite things about Land O Lakes® Butter is its brilliant Flavor Protect® Wrapper. My fridge is usually packed with all kinds of deeply aromatic and super savory dishes (hello, roasted peppers!); all those smells have a tendency to penetrate fats. Luckily, the Flavor Protect® Wrapper has me covered (literally).

ingredients for making frosted lemon sugar cookies measured out into bowls

How to Make Double Lemon Sugar Cookies

This lemon cookie recipe can be broken down into four simple steps:

1 – Make & Chill Dough

First up, you are going to want to make your dough because it will need time to chill before rolling.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 1 minute. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the vanilla, lemon extract, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until no more flour is visible.

Turn out dough onto the counter and knead gently by hand until smooth, about 10 seconds. Divide dough in half.

Place 1 piece of dough in the center of a large sheet of parchment paper and press into a 7- by 9-inch oval. Place a second large sheet of parchment over dough and roll dough into a 10- by 14-inch oval of even 1/8-inch thickness.

Transfer dough with parchment to a rimmed baking sheet.

Repeat pressing and rolling with the second piece of dough, then stack on top of the first piece on the sheet pan. Refrigerate until dough is firm, at least 1½ hours (or freeze for 30 minutes).

Make-ahead TIP: Rolled dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

2 – Roll and Bake

Adjust oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a rimless cookie sheet with parchment paper.

lemon sugar cookie dough rolled out on a piece of parchment for cutting

Working with 1 piece of the rolled dough, gently peel off the top layer of parchment. Replace parchment, loosely covering dough. Peeling off parchment and returning it will make cutting and removing cookies easier.

rolled sugar cookie dough on a sheet pan on a piece of parchment for refrigerating

Turn over dough and parchment and gently peel off and discard the second piece of parchment. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into shapes. Feel free to use whatever shape you like!

using a round cookie cutter to cut lemon cookie dough

Transfer shapes to the prepared cookie sheet, spacing them about ½ inch apart. Bake until cookies are lightly and evenly browned around edges, 14 to 17 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.

unbaked circles of lemon sugar cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment

Let cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool completely. Repeat cutting and baking with remaining dough.

cooling the cookies on a rack.

No Waste Tip: Dough scraps can be patted together, rerolled, and chilled once before cutting and baking.

3 – Make Lemon Glaze

While your cookies are cooling, make the lemon glaze. Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, and lemon extract in a medium bowl, stirring until completely uniform.

Let the icing set up for about an hour before icing the lemon cookies. Stir again before frosting.

Hand adding lemon glaze to top of cookie using a spoon

4 – Ice Cookies

Once your cookies are cooled completely, use a small frosting knife or the back of a spoon to coat the top of each cookie with icing. If you’d like a little more sparkle, feel free to use sprinkles, sanding sugar, or non-pareils to decorate.

Allow the glazed lemon cookies to set up for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

copper serving platter with 9 glazed lemon sugar cookies garnished with gold and silver sanding sugar

Frequently asked questions

How long will glazed lemon sugar cookies last?

In my house, NOT LONG!!! All jokes aside, though, these iced lemon sugar cookies should keep at room temperature for up to 5 days. 

What if I don’t like lemon?

Feel free to swap in vanilla or almond if you’re entirely citrus-averse, or turn them into delicious orange cookies by using orange extract instead!

What if I don’t have lemon extract?

Extracts are a great way to keep a lot of flavor in a shelf-stable manner. However, if you don’t have lemon extract, you can achieve the same flavor by using fresh lemon zest. A few notes: First, be sure to only use the yellow part of the zest, as the white part can be quite bitter. Second, your cookies and your glaze will both have little yellow flecks in them, meaning the glaze won’t be quite smooth.

 

overhead shot of glazed lemon sugar cookies on a copper platter with a few sprigs of evergreen and a gold candelabra.

If you tried making my tasty Glazed Lemon Cookies recipe, please be sure to rate and review it below!

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lemon sugar cookies with lemon glaze and sprinkles

Glazed Lemon Cookies

5 (2 ratings)
These Glazed Lemon Cookies pack a double-whammy of bright, citrusy flavor for pure sunshine in a bite! Basic sugar cookies are livened up with flavorful lemon extract and topped with a simple, 4-ingredient icing that’s perfectly pucker-worthy.
Print Pin Rate
Yield: 40
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

Lemon Icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon milk
  • ¼ teaspoon lemon extract

Instructions 

Sugar Cookies

  • Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 1 minute. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the vanilla, lemon extract, and salt.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Pour dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well with the mixer until no more flour is visible.
  • Turn out dough onto counter and knead gently by hand until smooth, about 10 seconds. Divide dough in half. Place 1 piece of dough in center of large sheet of parchment paper and press into 7- by 9-inch oval.
    Place second large sheet of parchment over dough and roll dough into 10- by 14-inch oval of even thickness. Transfer dough with parchment to rimmed baking sheet.
    Repeat pressing and rolling with second piece of dough, then stack on top of first piece on sheet. Refrigerate until dough is firm, at least 1 ½ hours (or freeze for 30 minutes).
    (Rolled dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 5 days.)
  • Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Line rimless cookie sheet with parchment. Working with 1 piece of rolled dough, gently peel off top layer of parchment. Replace parchment, loosely covering dough. (Peeling off parchment and returning it will make cutting and removing cookies easier.)
    Turn over dough and parchment and gently peel off and discard second piece of parchment. Using cookie cutter, cut dough into shapes. Transfer shapes to prepared cookie sheet, spacing them about ½ inch apart.
    Bake until cookies are lightly and evenly browned around edges, 14 to 17 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
    Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool completely. Repeat cutting and baking with remaining dough. (Dough scraps can be patted together, rerolled, and chilled once before cutting and baking.)

Lemon Icing

  • Make the icing by combining the powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, and lemon extract in a medium bowl.
  • Use a small frosting knife or back of a spoon to coat the top of each cooled cookie with icing. 
  • Let the icing set up for about an hour before frosting cookies.

Notes

  • If you don’t have lemon extract, you can achieve the same flavor by using fresh lemon zest. A few notes: First, be sure to only use the yellow part of the zest, as the white part can be quite bitter. Second, your cookies and your glaze will both have little yellow flecks in them, meaning the glaze won’t be quite smooth.
  • Cookie dough can be made and refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen up to a month in advance.
Serving: 40g, Calories: 109kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 17mg, Sodium: 53mg, Potassium: 16mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 147IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 1mg
Author: Yvette Marquez
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Simple

Photography by Jenna Sparks 

This post is in partnership with Land O Lakes. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.