Lemon is just about my most favorite thing on the planet. Butter is my second. That means that Lemony Butter Cookies are not only my idea of pure perfection, they are pretty much to die for. This recipe is super simple and if you make enough to share, they will make you an instant hit with your friends. That means I’m advising that you double the recipe below. Trust me on this front. Oh, and let’s be honest. I don’t make this recipe to share. In fact, I’d like to not share one single precious one of my lemony butter cookies. But I do double the recipe. Consider yourself warned and proceed accordingly.
Lemony Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 C confectioner’s sugar
4 Tbs finely grated lemon zest
1 ½ Tbs fresh lemon juice
¾ t sea salt or kosher salt
Glaze
½ cup plus 2 Tbs Confectioner’s sugar
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice (more if needed)
1 Tbs softened unsalted butter (not melted, just softened)
Garnish
6 Tbs finely grated lemon zest
Lemony Butter Cookies—Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter with Confectioner’s Sugar until creamy. Beat in the lemon zest and lemon juice, then add flour and salt. At this point, your mixture is going to be pretty thick. I find it easier to just suck it up and mix this with my hands as it’s easier than battling the mixer. And here’s what it’ll look like when you’re ready to go ……
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet—you’ve got butter cookies here folks, no need for buttah.
Gently flatten the balls a bit with the bottom of a glass or your fingers. The above photo is pre-flatten stage, btw.
Bake 12-14 minutes, switching tray from the top rack to bottom rack and vice versa about halfway through. Bake until the cookies are lightly browned on the bottom and just firm. This is important—don’t wait until they are browned on the top, as they’ll be a little crunchier than you might like. Check those bottoms and once brown, pull ‘em out.
Let the cookies cool completely before adding the glaze.
I like my glaze fairly thick, so as you mix this up, if you’d like it to be thicker, just add some additional Confectioner’s sugar—I’m relatively certain I added more than the recipe calls for. If it gets too thick, add some extra lemon juice, as there’s really no such thing as anything being too lemony, right?
Garnish the cookies with your grated lemon zest and let stand until the glaze has set. Et voila, your Lemony Butter Cookies await!
Final Advice
Immediately pack these into a container and hide from your children. The cookies. Hide the cookies. Double the amount of gym visits in your immediate future.
And if you make these and love them, try these Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars from Two Peas and Their Pod, one of my all time favorite foodie blogs. You’ll like them almost, but not quite, as much as the butter cookies.
Other things you should probably definitely make:
Desserts to Die For—The Most Amazing Chocolate Biscuits
The Eggnog Challah French Toast Miracle
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- Easy and Best Strawberry Biscuit Recipe - March 15, 2020
- Carb Confusion is Real. Are Carbs Evil? Let’s Do Some Myth-Busting - January 14, 2019