Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies Recipe

These Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies are soft, buttery, and bursting with fresh lemon flavor! With ingredients like fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, each bite melts in your mouth and gives you that perfect cookie texture you crave. If you’re into lemon cookie recipes or need a break from chocolate chips, this one’s going to be a hit!

Love lemon treats? Check out some more citrusy goodness like Snowball Lemon Drop Cookies, Funfetti Lemon Cake Mix Cookies, Simple Lemon Cake or these soft and chewy Lemon Brownies!

Jump to:

• What is Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies Recipe?
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Ingredients
• Top Tips
• FAQ
• Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies Recipe

What is Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies Recipe?

This Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies Recipe brings together classic baking vibes and bright citrus flavor. It's one of those old-school lemon sugar cookies that never go out of style. Perfect for spring, summer, or whenever you want a fresh-tasting dessert!

The dough is made by creaming unsalted butter and granulated sugar together, then adding in egg, syrup, and citrus goodness. What you get is a soft cookie with a lightly crisp edge and a chewy center.

Substitutions

• all-purpose flour – can use gluten-free baking mix for a GF version
• unsalted butter – swap with vegan butter or margarine
• egg – use a flax egg or applesauce (¼ cup) for egg-free option
• corn syrup – sub with honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup
• baking soda + baking powder – if missing one, use 1½ tsp baking powder

Variations

• Lemon glaze – drizzle a simple glaze with powdered sugar + lemon juice
• Extra lemony – add ½ tsp more lemon extract for a stronger citrus flavor
• With vanilla – add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for a smoother flavor
• Lemon poppyseed – stir in 1 tbsp poppyseeds for bakery vibes

Storage

• Countertop – Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days
• Refrigerator – Keeps fresh in an airtight container for 7–10 days
• Freezer – Freeze baked cookies or dough balls up to 3 months; thaw before serving

Ingredients

These are the ingredients that you will need:

• all-purpose flour
• white sugar
• butter
• lemon zest
• lemon juice
• egg
• baking soda
• baking powder
• corn syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy:

Then add egg and corn syrup and mix. Next, add the lemon zest and lemon juice:

In a separate bowl mix, all-purpose flour and baking soda then add it to the wet ingredients:

Refrigerate for at least one hour:

After chilling the dough,  form cookie dough balls, like so:

Bake for 12-15 minutes for large cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mats, and cool them on wire racks for best results:

Top Tips

• Make sure to sift the powdered sugar because if you don't, you are going to have lumpy cookie dough.
• Use a stand electric mixer when kneading a larger batch of Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies dough.
• Melt the butter completely so that it will incorporate well with the cookie dough.
• To save time, zest the lemon in advance and also, take the juice out a night before baking the Old Fashioned Lemon Cookies.

FAQ

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I want to show you, Simply Bakers where I got my fresh lemons! We have a lot of them in our backyard and this always pushes me to make delicious lemon desserts.