Lemon Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Chewy and soft with bright lemon flavor, these lemon cut out sugar cookies are a must try for spring and summer! They're flavorful but not too sweet, and hold their shape to create a tasty canvas for your sugar cookie decorating designs.
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 18 grams fresh lemon zest (3 tbsp) (Approximately 6-7 large lemons)
- 10.5 oz granulated sugar (1 ½ cups)
- 14.8 oz all purpose flour (3.5 cups)
- ½ tsp salt
- 40 grams cornstarch (1/3 cup)
- 6 oz salted butter (still cold, but just soft enough to make small dent when pressing on it) (12 tbsp)
- 2 oz cream cheese (cold) (4 tbsp)
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Scant ½ tsp lemon oil (Scant = Slightly less than) (I recommend Lorann's Lemon Oil or Boyajian Lemon Oil) *See notes if you wish to omit the lemon oil and just use zest & juice
- Heads up! If you're using the recipe scaling function to 2x or 3x the recipe, only the main ingredient amounts (on the left) will scale. Those handy parenthesis notes like (1½ cups) or (6-7 large lemons) stay the same, so you’ll need to adjust those by hand.
Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookie Buttercream (Optional)
- 12 oz softened salted butter (1 ½ cups)
- 17 oz powdered sugar (4 cups)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 pinch salt (1/8 tsp ish)
- 1 tbsp french vanilla coffee creamer (Optional sub. heavy cream and add extra vanilla and almond extract to taste)
Instructions
Lemon Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- If using the no chill method, preheat oven to 350° and line two baking pans with silicone mats (or parchment paper). If you plan on chilling the dough (which I recommend), preheat the oven and prep pans just before rolling out dough and cutting shapes.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the lemon zest and the granulated sugar. Rub the zest in to the sugar with your fingers for 1-2 minutes to release the lemon's oils and enhance the flavor. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and cornstarch. (See notes about measuring dry ingredients correctly to avoid dry cookies) Set aside.
- Beat the butter in a large sized bowl using an electric mixer until butter has begun to evenly spread around the sides. Add in cream cheese and mix just until combined. Scrape down the bowl, and repeat.
- Add in the lemon zest granulated sugar mixture, and mix until well combined scraping down the sides of the bowl and beater as you go. Do NOT continue mixing to make it light and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg and egg yolk, fresh lemon juice, vanilla extract, and lemon oil and beat until incorporated. Once again, scraping the bowl as needed to ensure even mixing.
- With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture, and allow dough to come together until no dry ingredient streaks are remaining. Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and beater, and beat for another several seconds on medium speed.
- If chilling, divide the dough in two pieces and press each half into a 1 inch thick disk or square, and then wrap in saran wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for two hours.
- Lightly flour your work surface and your dough, and roll out half of your dough out until it's 3/8 inch thick. Every several rolls or so, pick the dough up and swipe your hand across the back of it and the counter to check for adequate flour amounts to prevent sticking. Use minimal flour, just enough to prevent dough from sticking to the counter and rolling pin. Remove dough buildup on cookie cutter and dip it in flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Cut out as many cookies as you can from your first roll out, and place them on to the prepared baking sheets with a minimum of 1" of space. Squish together the dough scraps in saran wrap and place them back in the fridge while you roll out the second half of the dough.
- Once you've cut shapes from the second half of rolled out dough, squish together remaining scraps of dough from both halves to re-roll. Continue rolling the dough, cutting shapes, and squishing together scraps until no dough remains. (Try not to knead the dough too much when working with the scraps, but instead squish it or press it together. The goal is to work the dough the least amount possible.)
- For the most even bake, bake one tray at a time on the center rack for 10-15 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny, but instead are an eggshell/matte finish. Remove at any sign of browning especially. (If you choose to bake multiple trays at a time, make sure to rotate trays halfway through. If you roll the cookies thinner than 3/8 or do small shapes, they will need less time to bake)
- Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting. Store in an airtight container.
Vanilla Almond Buttercream
- Beat room temperature butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium high for 1 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add vanilla and almond extract, and beat for another 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- With the mixer on a low speed, slowly pour in the powdered sugar along with the pinch of salt. Once the dry ingredients have been incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium high and beat for 5 more minutes.
- Turn the mixer on low, pour in the coffee creamer (or heavy cream). Stir until combined, and then allow the mixer to run on a low speed for another 5 minutes remove the majority of the air bubbles. (For optimal decorating texture, allow finished buttercream to thoroughly chill in the fridge, and then rewhip it until smooth but still slightly chilled.)
- Frost cookies in your preferred method, and eat within 3 days. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Measuring dry ingredients correctly is crucial in baking. Flour can vary when measured by cups based on how tightly packed it is.
For the most accurate results, measure dry ingredients by weight (unless it's just a few tbsp/tsp or less).
If you do choose to measure in cups, follow these steps.
-Fluff the flour or dry ingredient in it's container with a fork.
-Spoon the flour or dry ingredient into the measuring cup.
-Scrape the top with a flat utensil to level out. Do not pack it down.
This recipe uses about 6-7 large lemons.
Lemon oil is a key ingredient to making the lemon flavor prominent in this recipe. If you do not wish to use lemon oil, you can add an extra tablespoon of lemon zest (about 2-3 more large lemons). The recipe will be slightly less lemony without the lemon oil, but will still be delicious!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!