Zesty Lemon Cookies
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Why not enjoy that refreshing Summer flavor – lemon – but in cookie form? I saw this zesty lemon cookie recipe in my newspaper last week. Lesli Neilson was on a mission to duplicate Paradise Bakery and Cafe’s Lemon Zester Cookies and this is the recipe she came up with.
Now I have only been to Paradise Bakery twice, but absolutely love it. I also have never tried their lemon cookie but I know how fabulous the chocolate chips cookies are. So I figure the lemon cookie must be equally as good. Not sure how this version compares but it was delicious. It’s kind of like a lemon bar without that lemon curd type layer.
The cookie is also made from simple ingredients. We are talking butter, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, baking powder, and flour. The zest is what really makes the lemon flavor pop in this cookie. These cookies turn out soft and you finish them off with a light dusting of powdered sugar, just like lemon bars. You could even top them with a drizzle of lemon glaze if you prefer. Yummy. Tastes like summer.
You could even make a lime or orange version just by changing the juice and zest. These would also be perfect cookies to make a lemon whoopie pie with. You could fill them with lemon cream cheese filling. Oh yum! I love these zesty lemon cookies, the possibilities are endless with what you could do with them.
Zesty Lemon Cookies
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, until blended. Add lemon juice and zest, mixing until blended.
- Add salt, baking powder and flour and mix until blended.
- Drop by rounded scoopfuls onto prepared baking sheets and bake until edges are firm with no color, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks and let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar. Servings » Makes 2 1/2 dozen (I used my cookie scoop and got 3 dozen cookies)
This is the original picture from this post. The above picture was updated in July 2018.