Easy Soft and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies {No Rolling or Cutting Out}
Deliciously soft and chewy, these easy lemon sugar cookies are a simple drop cookie (no rolling or cutting out), and they are amazing!
Thanks to a brilliant way to infuse natural lemon flavor in every bite, these light and lemony sugar cookies are perfection.

How to Make Lemon Sugar
Lemon sugar is the key to this recipe (and it occurs in two places!). Making lemon sugar is easy.
- Combine granulated sugar and lemon zest in a bowl.
- Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers until it’s super fragrant and the sugar has a lightly moist, sandy consistency.
Rubbing the lemon zest releases the essential oils in the zest leading to maximum lemon flavor! Don’t skip this step!
Lemon Sugar Cookie Dough
The second place lemon sugar appears is in the cookie dough!
In the first step, adding lemon zest with the sugar and butter ensures that the mixing process will work on the zest to release those citrusy lemon flavors.
Fresh lemon juice is also added in a later step with the vanilla and egg.
Both the lemon juice and lemon zest in the cookie dough help to amplify the lemon flavor in the cookies.
Cookie Dough + Lemon Sugar
Scoop the cookie dough into balls – a couple tablespoons of dough each (I use a #40 cookie scoop) aff link.
Roll each cookie dough ball generously in the lemon zested sugar.
If the lemon sugar has been sitting for a while, you may need to break up any clumps with your fingers so it’s perfectly sandy before rolling the cookie dough.
For maximum soft chewiness, bake the cookies just until crackly and set.
They shouldn’t have a lot of golden color around the edges and on the bottom. If your oven tends to bake hot (and over brown baked goods), reduce the oven temperature by 15-20 degrees.
Perfect Lemon Sugar Cookies
The combination of lemon + sugar cookies is beautifully light and deliciously tasty.
I tend to find soft and chewy sugar cookies irresistible anyway, but add in bright lemon flavor, and I am really in trouble.
These cookies stay fresh for 1-2 days well-sealed or covered. The baked cookies also freeze amazingly well!
P.S. Our favorite way to use any leftover lemon sugar is on rollup pancakes, crepes or Swedish pancakes. Brush with butter, sprinkle on lemon sugar, and roll up. Yum!
One Year Ago: Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Two Years Ago: Easy Brookie Pie {Brownie + Chocolate Chip Cookie}
Three Years Ago: Instant Pot BBQ Pork Tacos {Slow Cooker Variation Included}
Four Years Ago: Little Toasted Coconut Lime Bars
Five Years Ago: Perfect Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Six Years Ago: Creamy White Chicken Chili {Stovetop or Slow Cooker}
Seven Years Ago: Lemon Blueberry Cake with Whipped Lemon Cream Frosting
Eight Years Ago: Zucchini Pizza Crust {Low-Carb and Totally Amazing}
Nine Years Ago: Light and Fluffy Yellow Cupcakes
Ten Years Ago: Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup
Easy Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Lemon Sugar:
- ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon zest (from one large lemon)
Cookies:
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened to room temperature (not too soft!)
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest (from one large lemon)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons (409 g) all-purpose flour (see note)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- For the lemon sugar, combine the sugar and zest in a bowl and rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers until super fragrant and the zest and sugar are evenly and well combined. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest until lightly and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla and mix again for 1-2 minutes until the batter lightens in color. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. It will look a bit curdled; that's totally fine.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix until combined. Don't over mix – just mix until no dry streaks remain.
- Scoop the cookie dough into rounded balls (about 2 tablespoons in size; I use my #40 cookie scoop).
- Stir or crumble the lemon sugar to break up any clumps. Roll cookie dough balls in lemon sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets a couple inches apart (about 12 cookies per baking sheet).
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until slightly crackly on top (don't over bake).
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Hi Mel! I want to make these for my sister who is gluten intolerant. Do you have any suggestions for how to alter this recipe for gluten free flour?
Hi Jess, this recipe should work out pretty well using a cup for cup gluten-free flour substitute. I would measure the gluten free flour with a light hand (spoon into the cup and level) – make sure the flour isn’t packed into the measuring cup.
Great sugar cookie, but you only get a hint of lemon really. Ran short on zest but it was barely there. I was really looking for it.
These are the best cookies i baked this year. They are top cookies!!! Thanks for this recipe.
Super soft and a perfect taste, even if you don’t like lemon.
Very flavorful!
They’re amazing my group and I did for a science experiment and they worked out so well! Everyone loved them! They came out of the oven nice and doughy and had a great lemony citrus taste! Overall they were fabulous!
Love them
Yummy! I made these for a large group with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and they worked out great. Lots of compliments. I also made them with a #70 scoop and baked between 8-9 minutes. I’m excited to keep them in my file for this winter when my lemons get ripe. Thank you!
Yay! So happy they converted well to gluten-free!
We are gluten-free too and we froze ours and they turned out well frozen
This is one of my most favorite cookies of all time! It is so good and has made me and the lemon lovers in my life very happy. I didn’t have quite enough lemon sugar, so I baked the last few without. They were still really good, but the lemon sugar definitely adds something special.
These ARE AMAZING!!! So easy and so yummy! I followed the recipe exactly except I added 1 and 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to make them a little more lemon-y 🙂 definitely a favorite in our house
These were so straightforward and so light and so soft. Great flavor.
Fantastic! Made them for my husband’s police squad and they were devoured! These lemony babies are going to win me friends everywhere I take them.
Amazing recipe! So fun! The zest really makes this cookie special! Thank uou for sharing it!
OH MY GOSH THESE ARE SO GOOD. They taste like summer in a cookie. We finally had a warm day and I just needed a desert to match it. These were perfect. We didn’t have any lemons so I just used limes and it still worked out well. Thanks for the recipe!
These cookies are absolutely delicious. I have made them 3-4 times in the last month, and they have been a crowd favorite each time. I do think the lemon sugar needs to be closer to 1/2 cup, instead of 1/3. I did use the full 2 T of flour and I live in New Jersey.
Made these with my YW last night. They were so good! I panicked a bit because the girls were throwing ingredients in but they turned out delicious. They may have been over floured a bit because they were puffy, but the taste was divine. We also ran out of the lemon sugar, but baked the last 5 without.
These cookies were delicious and easy to make! Another home run from Mel’s Kitchen!
Loved these!!
These are INCREDIBLE!!!! We had several couples over on Sunday evening and 3 different people asked me for the recipe! I put almost all of them out for my company, and stashed 8 of them away, and hid them in the freezer for myself. I think it is the lemon zest sugar that puts them over the top. I will makes these again and again. Thank you for yet another spectacular cookie recipe Mel!
These are so so good! I’ve made them twice! A few substitutions (for the lazy baker in me): standard non-lemon sugar for rolling, and 1.25 tsp of lemon extract instead of the lemon zest. Thank you for the recipe!
We loved these cookies! I like smaller cookies, so I used a #70 scoop. I got about 5 dozen cookies. At this size, I baked them for 9 minutes. I also doubled the amount of sugar for rolling, but used the same amount of zest, because I was making more cookies, and other commenters said they had run out of it. They’re so yummy!
These turned out so good! I love the lemon sugar dusting on the outside of the cookie. Delicious!
So easy and so yummy! Love the lemon flavor! The lemon sugar is divine!
These are so delicious! Even though I’m usually all about the chocolate, these are now competing for my favorite cookie ever.
They taste like spring. I used 1/2 cup sugar to roll the cookies in like others suggested and it was the perfect amount.
Absolutely delicious!! I’ve made these twice since you posted them and they’ve been gobbled up both times. I also added white chocolate chips both times and we all loved them. Next time I need to remind myself to use 1/2 cup sugar instead of 1/3 cup with the lemon zest. I ran out both times with just the last few cookies.
Excellent! I did need to more than double the sugar topping, but other than that, no issues. So good!
These are incredible! Feels like Spring has arrived in a cookie! So easy too.
These taste great but i had horrible luck with these cookies. I tried the extra flour, tried raising the oven temperature, tried freezing the dough balls and still they ended up as flat as a pancake.unfortunately, I made these for a women’s retreat and couldn’t bring them due to their appearance. They also broke apart when trying to move them or cut them into squares–had to do that since they spread out so far.
Did you mean you lowed the temperature of the oven? You’re supposed to lower the temperature, not raise it. Also maybe try using slightly colder butter, the warmer the butter, the less solid the batter.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Sorry these didn’t work out for you, Karen. What altitude do you live at?
Loved these! Surprised me every time I bit into one and it wasn’t crispy. 😉 They’re like a soft lemon snickerdoodle.
Ummm I’ve made these 3 times since last Monday. I might have a problem.. So good! Thank you for another fantastic recipe! Your the best!
These were divine. They had the perfect amount of tartness and were like lemon bars in a cookie. The chewy, but soft texture was perfection. LOVE THESE.
After salivating and thinking about these cookies 24/7 since Mel posted the recipe, I finally made them. They are yummy and taste like spring! I probably should have just started with the two tablespoons of additional flour because my cookies came out slightly fluffier than those in your pictures. But still absolutely delicious. And I would recommend making extra zesty sugar because I ran out just shy of my last two cookie balls (and my dough produced 30 cookies – I don’t have a cookie scoop, so I eyeballed it). I made the cookies in secret and put them in the freezer (after eating a couple). This way they’ll last until Easter!
These were so delicious and 100% delivered on the lemon flavor!
Love Love the cookies. I used raw cane sugar instead of granulated as stated in the recipe. My first dozen cooled a little flat, but the remaining cookies cooled fluffy just like in the photo. Not sure why?? Don’t get me wrong, the flatter cookie was still delicious. Going to make these with my grandson for Easter.
Made these yesterday, and they have a GREAT lemony flavor!
I live, basically, at sea level here in Florida, so I didn’t add the 2 T of flour; however, the dough seemed a little bit sticky, so I added 1 T of flour, and made a test cookie. It came out perfect at 11 minutes!
Also, I eventually ran out of rolling sugar/zest, and it’s probably because I use a small scoop to make my cookies. Instead of zesting another lemon since I already had cleaned the microplane, I just took 3 T of sugar and mixed it thoroughly with about 3/4 tsp of pure lemon extract. That got me through the rest of the cookies, about 2 1/2 dozen.
Thank you for the recipe, Mel!
Made them! They were delicious.
Super cookie. Tastes like spring and we really need that today.
So delicious! I used a full 3 cups of spooned and leveled flour at 6400 ft elevation. I also first took the cookies out when they were only cracked on the edges, and they weren’t quite done. Cracks need to be on the top, for sure. Cookies are puffy and perfect!
Thanks for including those details, Holly! Glad they worked out for you!
Our new favorite cookie! It’s like summer in my mouth! Thank you for another keeper!
Yay! Thanks, Natasha! Love that you made them and enjoyed them!
Big lemon fans over here. Literally the second this recipe was posted I ran to the store to get lemons aaand it’s a miracle any dough got in the oven. The lemon to sugar ratio is unmatched.
Ah, thanks, Megan! So glad you liked these especially coming from an avid lemon fan!
I made these cookies exactly like the recipe says. They are so lemony light and delicious. I forwarded the recipe to all my lemonhead friends.
So happy to hear this!
Hi! If you don’t have access to fresh lemons, is there a lemon peel (dried, jarred) or lemon oil substitution that would work? Thanks a bunch!
Hi Rebecca, I think lemon oil would probably work – just a drop or two should be plenty since it’s quite potent.
Maybe it is just me but this recipe is kind of hard to comprehend. I will look up another recipe to make lemon cookies.
These were magical- had to send them to work with my husband or I would have eaten them all
Haha, I do the same thing. 🙂
I just made these!!! As expected they did not disappoint!!! So yummy!!
Thanks for letting me know, Toni! Happy you loved them!
hi, wanting to know do you use salted or unsalted butter. your recipe does not specify but most baking uses unsalted so…
I use salted butter
I made these sliiiiightly differently because I was craving a long-lost recipe and this looked like it could be a good substitute. I put all the lemon zest in the dough along with 1/2 tsp lemon extract to pump up the flavor. I then rolled them in lavender sugar.
Sooooo good! A little grown-up flavor, perfect for pairing with tea.
I recently made your lemon swig sugar cookies but skipped the frosting (they remind me of lemon shortbread cookies). They were a hit. And then I made your no cut sugar cookies last week for St. Patrick’s day and literally thought to myself…I bet there could be a lemon version of these. You must be a mind reader!!! I can’t wait to give these a whirl today! Just when I think I am going to take a break from cookie baking (I’ve made way too many cookies this winter but life is short right?), you entice me once more. 🙂
Haha. Well, these are definitely worth it, I promise!
Made them and loved them!! Thank you!!
Oh Mel, you did it again! I made these tonight for a mission call opening for my oldest tomorrow and they are delicious. Thanks for a great recipe (mine needed to be forked on top before cooking since my first batch was too puffy – but they are great!).
Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know how they worked out for you, Jenn! Also, congrats and good luck to your missionary!
Me: Looking for dinner recipes. Let’s check Mel’s site.
Also Me: Lemon Sugar Cookies? Who needs dinner?! Or a diet? Or really anything except Lemon Sugar Cookies?
If I had lemons in the house right this minute, my family would be fending for themselves, and we’d be having lemon sugar cookies for dessert. Sadly, we’ll have to wait until I can grocery shop!
I honestly don’t know how you continue to provide such DELICIOUS content for us, but I’m forever grateful.
Thank you so much, Erin!
This just moved to the top of my “must bake very soon” list!!