Soft Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

A stack of five lemon cookies topped with white frosting and a small lemon wedge.

Soft Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

These Lemon Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy cookies made with fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and a bright lemon buttercream frosting. Sweet, tangy, and bursting with citrus flavor, they're perfect for spring and summer baking, holidays, and everyday treats.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword lemon sugar cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 9

Total Time 19

Servings cookies

Calories 205kcal

Author Julia

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (280g)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup unsalted butter (185g) room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
2 tablespoons lemon zest about 2 lemons
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon lemon extract optional, enhances flavor
¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling

For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter (113g) room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 cups powdered sugar (330g)
3 tablespoons lemon juice add 1 more tablespoon to adjust

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and lemon extract (if using). Mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Using a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup, gently press down on each dough ball to flatten slightly. The cookies should still be thick.
Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers look slightly underbaked.
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and lemon zest on low speed for about a minute until smooth.
Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix until combined.
Repeat the process, adding another cup of powdered sugar followed by 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Continue until all powdered sugar is incorporated.
Adjust the consistency as needed: If too thick, add more lemon juice (1 teaspoon at a time). If too thin, add more powdered sugar (1 tablespoon at a time).
Once cookies are fully cooled, spread frosting over each cookie and enjoy!

Notes

Zesting Lemons: Always zest the lemon before juicing it. It’s much easier this way!
Lemon Extract: While optional, it enhances the lemon flavor without making the dough too wet.
Slightly underbake. I'll say it again because it's the single most important tip: the centers should look a touch underdone when you pull the pan from the oven. The centers will finish setting on the hot baking sheet, which keeps them soft and chewy.
Use the same scoop size for every cookie so they all bake evenly. A medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons) is my go-to.
Decoration Ideas: Try sprinkling lemon zest and sanding sugar over the frosting for an extra pop of color and texture. Yellow sprinkles or a dusting of powdered sugar also work beautifully. I used 3 tablespoons of sanding sugar along with 1 tablespoon of zest to decorate in the pictures.
Baking pan: I baked these cookies on a Nordic Ware Naturals Extra Large Baking Sheet (21 x 15 inches), and it's one of my favorite sheet pans for cookies. The heavy-gauge aluminum bakes evenly, the reinforced rim helps prevent warping, and the extra-large surface lets you fit more cookies per batch. Do not bake on a dark-colored pan.

Storage and Freezing

Room temperature: Store frosted cookies in an airtight container in a single layer (or with parchment between layers) for 3-4 days. Unfrosted cookies keep about a week.
Refrigerator: Because of the buttercream, frosted cookies can be refrigerated for up to 5 days — let them come to room temperature before serving for the best texture.
Freezer: Freeze unfrosted cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months, then thaw and frost fresh. You can also freeze the dough balls (before rolling in sugar) — roll them in sugar and bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the bake time.

Tools You Need

Stand mixer or hand mixer
Mixing bowl
1½-tablespoon cookie scoop
Baking sheet pans
Microplane zester (for lemon zest)
Parchment paper sheets
Citrus juicer or citrus reamer

Nutrition