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Lemon Sugar Cookies made with fresh lemon juice and zest in a soft sugar cookie dough and topped with a bright lemon buttercream frosting. Lemon Sugar Cookies are piped with a super simple rosette so they taste incredible and they're pretty too! No rolling and chilling necessary- just scoop, bake, cool and frost.
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5 from 4 votes

Lemon Sugar Cookies

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!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Cookie
Servings: 32

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
  • 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! 

Video

Notes

Recipe yields 2.5 dozen cookies