It’s Christmas in June! Not really, but if you needed proof that sugar cookies are not just for Christmas, let these lemon sugar cookies be clear and convincing evidence that they’re ok all year long. It’s like lemonade. In cookie form. And they only take 25 minutes to bake, start to finish. Convinced yet?
I made these for our life group one gorgeous Sunday afternoon. I had baked all weekend, but didn’t want to show up empty-handed (because, you know, they expect dessert from me). Whatever I was going to bake needed to happen fast because I was running out of steam. Trust me when I tell you I found this 25 minute sugar cookie recipe on AllRecipes it was like striking gold. Naturally, a few tweaks were in order to make them mine and to make them something other than basic. (We don’t do basic.) And, given the bounty of lemons we’ve had around here (hence: lemon pistachio muffins, lemon thyme cake, almond lemon poppy seed muffins…) what better way to jazz up otherwise basic sugar cookies with a little summer flavor? Ok, A LOT of summer flavor. There’s lemon everywhere. And it’s perfect.
I mean, just look at them. They speak for themselves, really. The glittery sugar crystals, the flecks of lemon zest… The key to these is rolling them, snickerdoodle-style, in lemon-infused sugar. HELLO! Anything BUT basic, for sure. And they were devoured. Thanks in large part to one particular friend of ours, who shall remain nameless (code name: Toby). 😉
- 1⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup cane sugar
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and the zest of 1 lemon. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is moist, like wet sand, and the lemon zest is very fragrant. Remove ¼ cup of the lemon-sugar to a separate small bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter with the lemon-sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. Beat in egg and lemon juice. Turn the mixer speed to low and gradually mix in the dry ingredients until incorporated.
- Scoop the cookie dough into small rounds, about 2 tablespoons each, and roll them in the reserved lemon sugar. Arrange them about 1-2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for exactly 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 2 minutes atop a wire rack, then remove the cookies from the pan to cool completely directly on the rack.