A staple of baking in many households, shortbread cookies are also one of the easiest cookies to bake. These lemon shortbread cookies put a simple spin on the classic recipe for a light yet citrus infused cookie everyone will enjoy!
The perfect addition to a cookie platter or holiday gift, lemon shortbread cookies are the ideal mix of sweet and tart, making them suitable as a year round dessert. Garnished with a simple lemon glaze and some fresh lemon zest, I'm going to bet you'll be baking a second batch before you know it!
Featured in: Christmas Day Dinner Ideas.
Some of the links in this post lead to affiliate sites through which Earth, Food, and Fire may earn a small commission should you make a purchase. For more info check the Affiliate Disclaimer.
Are Shortbread Cookies Easy To Make?
Yes!
One of the easiest cookie recipes, shortbread only requires a few simple ingredients you probably already have at home. Because they are so easy to make and require no special equipment, shortbread cookies make a great beginner cookie and are great for baking with kids.
The great thing about shortbread is that you can flavor it in countless different ways by adding different herbs, spices, or fruit as in these lemon shortbread cookies.
Should Shortbread Cookies Be Soft Or Hard?
Traditional shortbread cookies tend to be on the harder side and will have a slightly snappy, yet sandy texture. The center of a good shortbread cookie should be just barely softer than the outside.
In the end, it all comes down to preference, and I have had shortbread that is fairly soft and buttery, and ones that are quite hard.
You can easily adjust the texture of the cookies by adjusting the baking time. Bake for an extra 2 to 5 minutes for a harder cookie or reduce the baking time by 2 minutes for a softer cookie.
My Absolute Favorite Lemon Shortbread Cookie Recipe.
This recipe is so easy it will quickly become a favorite of yours as well. Very similar to my German Almond Crescent "Vanillekipferl" cookies, these shortbread cookies have just a hint of lemon in them and are then topped with a tangy lemon glaze.
To make these lemon shortbread cookies you'll need:
For the cookie dough:
- ¾ cup softened butter cubed
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon fresh lemon zest
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and pre-heat the oven to 325F.
- Mix the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with a fork until well combined.
- Add the flour, lemon juice, and zest to the butter mixture, and mix until it forms a soft dough.
- Roll out the shortbread dough on a lightly floured surface to between ¼" and ½" in thickness
- Use a cookie cutter and cut out the shortbread cookies. Place the individual cookies on the parchment lined cookie sheet making sure they are evenly spaced and not to crowded.
- Bake the lemon shortbread cookies for 15 minutes. Immediately remove the cookies from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.
- While the cookies cool, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl to make the lemon glaze. Pour the glaze over the cooled cookies, and refrigerate the cookies until the glaze is fully set.
- Serve the lemon shortbread cookies garnished with fresh lemon zest.
Flavor Variations
Did you know you can easily create different flavor variations by adding one or two ingredients to a traditional shortbread recipe?
- Try adding very finely chopped rosemary to these lemon shortbread cookies to make lemon rosemary shortbread cookies.
- Add a pinch of finely chopped lavender flowers to make lavender shortbread cookies
Made the recipe? Comment & Rate it below, then take a picture and tag me on Facebook. For more from scratch recipes, follow me on Facebook & Pinterest.
Recipe
Glazed Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- ¾ cup softened butter cubed
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
For the lemon glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and pre-heat the oven to 325F.
- Mix the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with a fork until well combined.
- Add the flour , lemon juice, and zest to the butter mixture, and mix until it forms a soft dough.
- Roll out the shortbread dough on a lightly floured surface to between ¼" and ½" in thickness
- Use a cookie cutter and cut out the shortbread cookies. Place the individual cookies on the parchment lined cookie sheet making sure they are evenly spaced and not to crowded.
- Bake the lemon shortbread cookies for 15 minutes. Immediately remove the cookies from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.
- While the cookies cool, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl to make the lemon glaze. Pour the glaze over the cooled cookies, and refrigerate the cookies until the glaze is fully set.
- Serve the lemon shortbread cookies garnished with fresh lemon zest.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Betty
Can I just make the cookie dough into small balls, press them with a fork and bake?
Chef Markus Mueller
Hi Betty, Yes that will work aswell.
Kathy
Looking forward to trying this recipe. was wondering do you have to roll and use cookie cutter? Can you make rolls chill then Slice & bake?
Chef Markus Mueller
Hi Kathy, yes you can make rolls, slice them, an then bake, no cookie cutter required.
Diane Herman
Mmmmm....my dough did not come together with 1 tbsp of lemon juice....I needed to add more. Where did I go wrong? Help.
Chef Markus Mueller
Hey Diane, did you make sure to use the 3/4 cups of softened butter? The butter, really is what binds the cookie dough. You will likely need to mix/knead the dough with your hands to get it to form a ball. It's not like a cake batter where the liquid binds the ingredients. Let me know if I can help troubleshoot in any other problems!
Julie
Thanks for the recipe, these are SO easy to make and they turned out amazing! Being lactose intolerant, I substituted the real butter for County Crock's Plant Butter (with Olive Oil) and it still worked great!
Chef Markus Mueller
Awesome! Glad you loved the recipe Julie!
Corinna
Cookies were amazing!! Was wondering though are the ingredients for the glaze correct? There doesn't seem to be enough liquid to dissolve the sugar and after 5 minutes of mixing it was still all powder?
Chef Markus Mueller
Hi Corinna, you are correct there is a typo, it should read 2 tbsp of lemon juice per 1 cup of sugar not 1/2. I apologize and have changed this in the recipe.
Chef Markus
Heather
Lovely with the lavender! Won an office party cookie competition with these -- thank you! 🙂
Chef Markus Mueller
Congratulations Heather! That's wonderful to hear! If you have a picture of the cookies, tag us on social media! @earthfoodandfire!
nicole (thespicetrain.com)
I love lemon shortbread cookies and am very intrigued by the idea of adding rosemary, that sounds fantastic and is something I would not have thought of myself. Thanks for sharing, Markus! 🙂
Chef Markus Mueller
You're welcome Nicole! Let me know how you like the rosemary addition!