My easy lemon cooler cookies are soft, tart and citrus cookies coated with melty powdered sugar. The perfect lemon cookie recipe!
Make sure to try my Lemon Sheet Cake too. It’s absolutely incredible.
Sunshine Lemon Cooler Cookies
I KNOW you all love my lemon recipes. Every time I share anything lemon it’s an instant hit. I have quite the catalog of lemony recipes, which are always bittersweet to create because I am the only one in my family who enjoys lemon desserts…which means I end up eating them ALL! I need a few of you guys to live local to me to get these off my hands!
And these Sunshine Lemon Cooler Cookies are no different. Absolutely incredibly vanilla/buttery/lemon cookies coated in powdered sugar that melts in your mouth with every bite. I love these simple cookies so much!
The Ingredient List Is Very Simple:
I have seen so many versions of lemon coolers over the years. Some made with Cool Whip, some made with lemonade mix, or jello, tons made with lemon extract…but I really like the flavors of fresh lemons. They aren’t as strong as artificial flavorings, but in my opinion the subtle natural flavor of lemon is so much better!
Room Temperature Butter: I always use salted because I prefer it, but you can use unsalted if you would like!
Lemons: You will use the lemon juice and the zest. The size of the lemons will determine the amount of juice you get, but I find 2 medium lemons will get you about 1/4 cup of juice, which is what you will need for this recipe.
Vanilla Extract: I adda little vanilla into this recipe as I love how it pairs and enhances the lemon.
Powdered Sugar: The use of powdered sugar in the cookie recipe as well as for the coating is what sets the texture of these cookies apart. Baking with powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar gives the cookies a soft, slightly melty texture!
One egg yolk: I hate wasting ingredients, but you don’t need the egg white in this recipe. The cookie only needs limited moisture, and the fat from the yolk does the trick.
Dry Ingredients: All purpose flour, bakingpowder, and kosher salt are the basic ingredients needed for this recipe.
Tools To Make Things Easier:
A Lemon Juicer. This simple tool is one that I only bought a few years ago but continues to be one of my most handy kitchen items. No more seeds in the juice, and you get all the juice squeezed out easily!
A Zester. If you don’t have a zester, go get one now! It’s a simple tool that can be used for citrus zest, grating ginger, finely grating parmesan cheese and more!
A cookie scoop. I always recommend cookie scoops for baking. From everything from cookie dough (ensuring uniform cookies and even baking), to portioning out cupcake or muffin batter, cookie scoops in varying sizes make everything much easier.
How To Make Lemon Cooler Cookies:
The steps are really simple for this recipe. The dough comes together in just minutes.
Make the dough: The steps are easy and straightforward but note when add in the lemon juice the mixture can look a little curdled, which is totally fine. And then when you add the flour it might seem a little dry. This is also ok! The dough is a little drier, and even slightly crumbly, but it should hold together when you roll it into balls. If it doesn’t add in a tiny splash more of lemon juice.
Roll the dough into balls: Using a small cookie scoop, portion out the cookie dough and roll it into balls. You can place these pretty close on your parchment paper lined baking sheet, as the cookies don’t spread too much while they are baking. This is great because if you use a large cookie sheet you can make almost the whole recipe in one batch!
Bake the cookies: The cookies take 14-ish minutes to bake in a 350°F preheated oven. You want the bottoms to be golden and the tops to be set.
Coat in powdered sugar: You will let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, so they are still warm, but easy to handle. Place some powdered sugar in a small bowl. You want to coat the cookies in powdered sugar while they are still warm, which allows the powdered sugar to stick to the cookie better as it melts slightly into the cookie. You can coat them again to give them as really thick layer of powdered sugar if you prefer, but that first layer should be while the cookies are warm. Let them cool completely on a wire/cooling rack!
TIP: You can even add a teaspoon or more of lemon zest into the powdered sugar coating to amp up the lemon flavor.
Do You Have To Use Fresh Lemons?
I wish I could say no here. You know how I love a shortcut, and those little bottles of lemon juice are tempting…but if you want the most lemony, bright lemon cookie flavor, you really must use fresh lemon juice. Plus, you’re going to need a little lemon zest too, and I have yet to find that prepackaged…I’m sure it’s only a matter of time!
TIP: You could use a little lemon extract in the cookies to really amp up the lemon flavor.
Just Like Sunshine Lemon Coolers!
I have seen bags of Lemon Cooler Cookies in random stores, like World Market or specialty foods stores, but they don’t seem to sell them in my local stores…which is TOTALLY fine since I figured out how to make them at home! The recipe is super easy, so it really doesn’t take much time to bake and eat…plus, homemade is always better, isn’t it?
Can You Make These Using Limes?
Yes of course! You can use this recipe using any citrus…oranges, limes, key limes, blood oranges, Meyer lemons…all delicious! I even have a separate recipe for Orange Cooler Cookies already!
How To Store These Lemon Cookies
This is one of those cookie recipes that you can keep in a tin on your counter for a week or so, if store airtight. And they are perfect to freeze. Just pop them in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 30 days for best freshness!
Lemon Cooler cookies come together quickly and have a sweet/citrus meltaway texture!
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 cups more for rolling
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 rounded tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar together on medium speed until smooth.
Add in the egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 1 minute until combined, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Mixture might look a little curdled, which is normal.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add in the flour, mixing until a thick dough comes together. It might seem a little crumbly, but this is ok as long as it holds together for the next step. If the dough is too dry add a splash more of lemon juice.
Scoop out dough using a small cookie scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons). Roll the dough into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet 2-inches apart. The cookies won’t spread much while baking.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown.6
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then place remaining powdered sugar in a small bowl. Roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
*always use the spoon and sweep method for measuring flour.
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 7 days. Freeze airtight for up to 30 days for best freshness.
Keywords: cookies and cups, lemon cookies, lemon recipe, cookie recipe
