Lemon Butter Cookies
I am a big lemon fan. Everything tastes better with lemon, including these basic butter cookies. Add lemon to the dough and lemon to the icing and you have a soft, buttery cookie treat, packed with flavor. With a hint of food coloring in the icing, these cookies can earn a spot on your holiday favorites list.
Prep: 25 minutes
Chill: 2 hours
Roll & cut: 20 minutes
Bake: 12 to 14 minutes
Bake at: 350°F
Spread icing: 20 minutes
Yield: 3 dozen 2-inch cookies
Pan: baking sheet
Difficulty: intermediate
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (126 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 6 tablespoons (76 grams) sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (1/2 lemon)
- Parchment paper
Lemon Icing
- 1 1/4 cups (140 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (1/2 lemon)
- Up to 5 teaspoons milk
Directions
Making the Cookies
- Sift together the flour and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer at medium speed to cream the butter until whipped, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar with the mixer running and then beat 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon zest, and blend.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two parts and stir until just combined.
- Form the dough into a tight ball and flatten slightly with your hand. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the dough ball on a floured surface and let warm for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is just malleable. Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut the dough into 2-inch rounds and place 1-inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies will be pale, but dry on top. Use the longer baking time for a crisper cookie. Let the cookies cool on tue baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cookies should be completely cool before spreading icing.
Icing the Cookies
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of the milk. Use a fork to beat ingredients together until combined. Add a small amount of milk, if needed, to make a spreadable, but very thick icing.
- Spread a thin layer of icing on the tops of cookies, leaving a small margin around the edge. Let the icing set until hard, about 1 hour.
- Store the cookies for up to 4 days or freeze in airtight tins between layers of wax paper for up to 3 weeks.
Tips
- If you prefer not to add extra flour to your dough, roll out between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
- For more intense flavor, use 1 teaspoon lemon rind in the cookie dough and up to 1 1/2 teaspoons if you omit the icing.
- For a plain tea cookie, you can omit the icing.
- Change flavors by substituting orange zest for lemon.
- You can leave out the lemon zest and flavor instead with almond or maple extract.
- For a holiday cookie, use a small amount of food coloring in the icing.