These lemon cooler cookies are made with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, making the lemon flavor pop! These are the perfect summer cookies buttery and tossed in powder sugar.
If you like summery desserts as we do, try out our lemonade bundt cake, mini strawberry pavlova, strawberry jam cake, fresh strawberry sheet cake, no-bake key lime pie, and our strawberry crumble cake.
These cookies are fresh and zesty, and always a crowd-pleaser. It's perfect for any summertime day and is really easy to make. Follow our tips and tricks to perfect this recipe.
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Why this recipe works
- Melt in your mouth cookies.
- Turns out perfect every time!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Is made with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Perfect for summer and will light up your day!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this lemon coolers recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Egg yolk- you will need 1 egg yolk for this recipe. Make sure that your egg yolk is at room temperature.
Lemon juice- use fresh lemon juice for this recipe. Fresh lemon will give you the best result. We don't recommend using store-bought lemon juice. This will make the flavor pop!
Lemon zest- you will need ½ teaspoon of lemon zest. We recommend zesting the lemon first and then juicing it.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Cornstarch- cornstarch helps to create a crumbly and tender texture for these cookies, plus, it keeps the cookie thick and soft.
Baking powder– baking powder allows the cookies to spread. Make sure that your baking powder is not expired.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Lemon extract- for extra lemony flavor. This is optional.
Kosher salt- you will need about ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Powder sugar(for assembly)- you will need powder sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powder sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Instructions
Step 1: Into a medium mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, lemon zest, granulated sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract, and cream it with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth.
Step 2: Add the egg yolk, and fresh lemon juice, and mix well until combined.
Step 3: Into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder, and mix with a whisk until combined.
Step 4: Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix with a spatula until just combined and there are no flour pockets visible.
Step 5: Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap tightly and let it chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Step 6: Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the batter and shape it into a ball. We used a small cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies, this way they are even in size and will bake evenly.
Step 7: Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, flatten them out a little bit with the palm of your hand and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 9-11 minutes.
Step 8: Let the cookies cool until they are safe to touch. Fill a medium mixing bowl with powder sugar and roll each cookie in the powder sugar. Serve and Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much and being able to roll the dough without it sticking to the surface. After making the cookie dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for at least a few hours.
Faq's
These cookies will last for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature in the fridge or up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in room temperature.
We used regular unsalted butter for this recipe. If you want to use salted butter in this recipe, simply skip the salt and make the recipe as written.
If your dough is too sticky, there are a few possible reasons for that, you may have used butter that is too warm when making the cookie dough. Your butter should be at room temperature and it should be soft to the touch.
The second reason is that you didn’t let the dough chill in the fridge for long enough. Chilling the cookie dough is super important. It will make it easier to work with the dough, and it will prevent it from spreading in the oven.
Do I have to chill the cookie dough?
Yes! Here is why you should chill your cookie dough:
- The first and the most important reason to chill the cookie dough is to let it cool. This step stops the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. Cold dough results in thicker cookies.
- The second important reason to chill the cookie dough is to let all the amazing flavors come together and create a rich cookie flavor.
Storing
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing
There are two ways to freeze these cookies, follow the instructions as written and make the dough, then cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
When ready to make these cookies, thaw them in the fridge overnight and follow the instructions as written.
The second way you can freeze these cookies is by baking them according to the instructions, letting the cookies cool completely, and freezing them in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months.
To thaw, place them at room temperature for 1-2 hours to defrost.
Substitutions
Dairy-free- It’s easy to make this cookie recipe dairy-free. Simply replace the butter with vegan butter. Do not margarine! margarine has a bad flavor and it can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Variations
White chocolate- add mini white chocolate chips to the cookie dough for a delicious white chocolate flavor.
Glaze- make a simple lemon glaze and glaze these cookies instead of coating them with powder sugar.
Lemon zest- add even more lemon zest for a stronger lemon flavor and aroma.
More cookies recipes:
Biscoff butter cookies- these cookies are soft and chewy, made and filled with biscoff spread, chocolate chips, biscoff cookies, and topped with more biscoff spread.
Brown butter chocolate chunk cookies- These brown butter chocolate chunk cookies are the most amazing cookies. They are filled with nutty brown butter, chocolate chunks, and topped with flaky salt.
Chewy chocolate chip cookies- These chewy chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy and loaded with chocolate chips. This chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe is our dream dessert that we never get sick of.
M&M cookies- These m&m cookies are chewy, soft, crispy edges, and loaded with chocolate chunks and m&m’s. These are the perfect holiday cookies, you can make them big or small.
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Cooler Cookies
Ingredients
- 115 g Butter
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- ¼ cup Powder sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 ¼ cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
Instructions
- Into a medium mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, lemon zest, granulated sugar, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and cream it with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth.
- Add the egg yolk, fresh lemon juice, and mix well until combined.
- Into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and mix with a whisk until combined.
- Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix with a spatula until just combined and there are no flour pockets visible.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap tightly and let it chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the batter and shape it into a ball. We used a small cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies, this way they are even in size and will bake evenly.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and flatten them out a little bit with the palm of your hand and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 9-11 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool until they are safe to touch. Fill a medium mixing bowl with powder sugar and roll each cookie in the powder sugar. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much and being able to roll the dough without it sticking to the surface. After making the cookie dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for at least a few hours.
Sandy
Can these be made gf?
RichandDelish
Hi! I never tried making them gluten-free, but let me know if you do!
Cassie P.
Hi,
Do the cookies store well at room temperature or should they be refrigerated? Also, are the cookies sturdy enough for to be mailed if packed securely in a box?
RichandDelish
Hi! These store well in an airtight container at room temperature. And yes, they are sturdy enough!
Bel
Can I substitute for a non-grain flour?
RichandDelish
Hi! I never tried but let me know if you do!
marry
hi, is the cornstarch necessary?
RichandDelish
Hi! You can replace it with flour if you don't have it available.
Mita
What can I substitute for the egg yolk as I am vegetarian and don’t eat eggs?
Thank you. Your cookies looks amazing 🤩
RichandDelish
Hi! You can try substituting the egg yolk with flex eggs or applesauce. I never tried it but it should work. Let me know if you try it!
Sylvia
The Lemon cooler recipe is super easy and was a huge hit at my house! They were delish!