Lemon Sugar Cookies made by adding fresh lemon juice and zest to a simple sugar cookie dough. No rolling out or chilling necessary! Just bake and top with a bright lemon buttercream frosting. Easy Lemon Cookies piped with a super simple rosette so they taste incredible and they’re pretty too! My all-time favorite Sugar Cookie recipe!
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe Ever!
Lemon Sugar Cookies are one of my favorite cookies ever! They’re soft, perfectly sweet and everyone goes crazy over the fresh lemon buttercream frosting on top. It’s absolutely amazing. I love that these lemon cookies are so easy to make too- no rolling or chilling required! You can literally just make the dough, scoop it on the baking sheet and bake right away. They cool quickly and you’re welcome to just frost with a knife, or you can make the darling rosettes on top of each cookie like I did. It’s fast and easy, I promise! I’m not a cake decorator by any means and I was able to frost each cookie really fast and they looked just lovely.
Tips to get the PERFECT Lemon Sugar Cookies:
Three kitchen items make these cookies come together really fast. I actually use these items in nearly every cookie recipe I make, so they’re quite versatile. First, I line my cookie sheets with a piece of parchment paper. They’re sold in sizes that fit a 12×16 cookie sheet perfectly and enable to cookies to bake well without sticking- and no mess from spraying oil on the cookie sheets!
The second item is a KitchenAid mixer. I love mine! I have a Bosch as well but I find I use my KitchenAid for cookies. There is a cookie paddle that comes with every mixer that you attach to the top of the mixer. They’re easy to use and help you mix the ingredients uniformly. I also use the metal whisk attachment in this recipe to make the frosting. It whips it up super fast! Add this to your wish list because it’s one of my all-time used small appliances ever!
The third item is a cookie scoop! Years and years ago I used to use 2 spoons to measure and scrape cookie dough onto the pans. It wasn’t a perfect process and I often ended up with oblong cookies in various sizes. A friend of mine brought cookies to a party and I noticed each and every one of her cookies looked PERFECT. Her secret? A cookie scoop! They come in three sizes- 1/2 tablespoon, 1.5 tablespoon and 3 tablespoon scoops. I used the middle size- 1.5 tablespoon for these, and most other cookies. (Although when I’m serving a large crowd, I use the small cookie scoop. People love having a smaller cookie, especially at an event with several other desserts. For this Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe I used the middle scoop.
Lemon Sugar Cookies
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 TBSP milk
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP lemon zest
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, sour cream, lemon juice and zest.
- Gently whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix to combine. Continue process, adding 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time until it’s all mixed in.
- Scoop out 1.5 TBSP of dough and roll into a ball. You can use a medium cookie scoop to make this process faster. Rolling the cookie ball is optional, but I wanted very pretty cookies, so I took the additional 5 seconds and rolled them individually. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Cool fully before frosting.
- To make the frosting:
- Mix butter, vanilla, milk, lemon juice and zest for 30 seconds with a mixer. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a closed star tip- I used a Wilton 2D. Begin piping in a tight circle in the middle of the cookie. Continue piping frosting in a circular motion until you reach the outside of the cookie. Frosting will set but I recommend not stacking cookies that have been frosted with a rosette so that you don’t squish them. Cookies frosted normally can be stacked though!
Like Lemon Recipes? Try some of these:
- Lemon Ice Box Pie Recipe
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Easy Lemon Raspberry Truffles
- Lemon Butter Bars Recipe
- Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
- Easy Lemon Bread
- Lemon Poke Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Quick Bread Recipe
- Lemon Raspberry Fruit Pizza
- Lemon Drop Glazed Mini Cupcakes
- Yogurt Lemon Bread
- Little Lemon Drop Cake Bites
- Lemon Butter Bars
- Lemon Pudding Cookies
- Lemon Raspberry Streusel Muffins
- Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 TBSP milk
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP lemon zest
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, sour cream, lemon juice and zest.
- Gently whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix to combine. Continue process, adding 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time until it’s all mixed in.
- Scoop out 1.5 TBSP of dough and roll into a ball. You can use a medium cookie scoop to make this process faster. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Cool fully before frosting.
To make the frosting:
- Mix butter, vanilla, milk, lemon juice and zest for 30 seconds with a mixer. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a closed star tip or drop flower tip. (I used a Wilton 2D) Begin piping in a tight circle in the middle of the cookie. Continue piping frosting in a circular motion until you reach the outside of the cookie. Frosting will set but I recommend not stacking cookies that have been frosted with a rosette so that you don't squish them. Cookies frosted normally can be stacked though!
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Vikki says
I have been obsessed with these cookies since I saw them on Pinterest. I will be making them tomorrow. In reviewing your blog and recipe, I notice the buttercream frosting seems to have little dark specks in it? I also noticed that on the pictures you posted with these cookies, one picture has a whole egg, and in another picture in the grouping, you show the cracked egg in the mixer along with something dark (looks like coffee grounds). I am curious if these ingredients (egg and dark coffee ground looking stuff) belong to this recipe, or are they for another recipe altogether? Just curious!
Jessica says
Yes, there is an egg in this cookie recipe! The dark stuff you see that looks like coffee grounds is actually my vanilla extract. I use vanilla bean paste- you can find it on Amazon as well as in many grocery stores (they often have it in Walmart by the cake decorating stuff!) I love the flavor and the fact that it has vanilla bean flecks in it. 🙂
Vikki says
My apologies! I overlooked the egg in the cookie recipe (whew!), but still curious to the dark matter in the bowl and measuring cup!
Jessica says
Sorry- just saw this follow up comment! I replied to your other comment!
Annessa says
These turned out beautifully for our Relief Society activity night! They were quick, easy and yummy. Thanks for sharing!
Jessica says
I’m so glad they worked out well Annessa! You’re very welcome!
Karen says
Can you tell me What tip did you use to frost the cookies?
Jessica says
I used a Wilton Closed Star 2D. 🙂 I’ll update the post with this info!
Robin Gagnon says
These cookies are so lovely. They look like little roses.
Jessica says
Thank you Robin! I’m NOT a cake decorator at all, so I was so pleased with how they turned out!
michele says
These were amazing! Who knew the frosting was such a crazy wonderful delicious thing to add to lemon cookies! My house smelled so lemony fresh while I was baking them! I’m already thinking of excuses to make these again…. they were so good! (easter, Mothers day, just because I need a cookie day! ).
Jessica says
I’m SO glad you liked them Michele! 🙂 And yes, doesn’t the house smell wonderful when they’re baking?! Mmmmm!
Alison says
Jessica these are beautiful! I just adore anything lemon, I am vegan so I’ll be giving these guys a vegan makeover! Can’t wait to try them!
Jessica says
Thank you Alison!
Lauren says
As delicious as these are the dough is an absolute nightmare – no way could these be scooped – this dough clearly needs to be refrigerated for hours before scooping
Jessica says
Hi Lauren… did you use a cookie scoop? The dough is soft, but it’s very manageable- I’ve never refrigerated it. You’re welcome to though if you want to!
jas says
I have made home made Limoncello and cut up lemon in small stripes (with scissors) and dried them.
I used limoncello for lemon and topped with bites of lemon omg amazing .
Jessica says
That sounds incredible!
Emily says
Excellent! I will definitely make these again! I made two alterations because of the ingredients I had on hand. I used greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. I omitted the lemon zest from the frosting because I didn’t have enough, but added a small amount (probably 1/4 tsp) of lemon extract to the frosting instead. I had no trouble scooping the dough – I just plopped them onto the silpat without rolling and they turned out fine. I did, however, have trouble getting the frosting to stick to the cookie when I piped it. They were messy, so I used a butter knife to spread it around.
Beth W says
Can I freeze the “dough balls” and bake and frost at a later time?
Cindy T says
Delicious! I used my lemons straight off my tree here in Arizona! I added extra lemon to the batter and to the frosting since we have so many lemons! I will be making these again… they are so easy! Thank you!
Jessica says
Oh man, I’m so jealous you have a lemon tree! So glad to hear you loved the cookies!