Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Shortbread Cookies are a must and these Lemon Shortbread are the perfect Lemon Lovers melt in your mouth Cookie. Delicious not just at Holiday Time!
I am a huge shortbread cookie lover! Never fail, every holiday season my Mom’s Shortbread Cookies would be front and centre.
And for good reason they are amazing.It was always hard to decide what were your favourite, because when you took a bite of one it instantly became your favourite until the next one came along.
Recipe ingredients
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar – also known as confectioners or icing sugar
- Lemon zest
- Flour – all purpose at least 11% protein or higher
- Salt
Lemon glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon juice
- Cream or milk
Why use powdered/icing sugar?
Powdered sugar will help keep the cookies soft for longer and it helps to keep the cookies from spreading while baking.
How to make Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Sift together the flour and salt.
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon mix together the butter, sugar and zest. Add the sifted flour mixture a little at a time, stirring between additions. Once the dough starts to come together move to a flat surface and knead into a compact ball.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. You can also shape the dough into a log or two, refrigerate then slice and bake.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out cookies. Place cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 15 minutes while the oven is pre-heating. Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C).
Bake cookies for approximately 12 minutes. Let cool completely before drizzling with glaze.
Lemon glaze
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and cream, if too thin add more sugar too thick add either more lemon juice or cream.
How to Measure Flour
The correct way to measure flour is to spoon the flour into the cup measurement and level it off with the blade of a knife. The best flour to use for cut out cookies is a high protein all purpose flour, 12-14 % protein is what you are looking for.
How to make Shortbread Cookies without a cookie cutter:
With this Shortbread dough you can actually just roll the dough into a log shape, then slice it and bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. I would probably refrigerate the log (before cutting) for about 30 minutes. Or you can roll it out and cut with your favorite cookie cutters.
Can this Shortbread Recipe be made with a stand mixer?
If you can’t or don’t want to knead the dough by hand, then yes a stand up mixer using the paddle attachment will work just fine.
I would only knead up to a point, when the dough just starts to come together (or even better, very coarse crumb mixture) and then knead the dough by hand.
How to keep cookies from spreading
To keep the cookies from spreading it is best to beat the butter and sugar just until combined and not creamed (of course this also depends on the type of cookie), for some cookies including some icing sugar in the mixture also keeps the cookies from spreading.
And probably most important of all, is to use a higher protein flour with at least 11.5- 12% protein count.
And don’t forget to chill the dough for at least 1 hour and again the cut out cookies before baking while the oven is pre-heating. The main reason for chilling the cookie dough before baking is to solidify the fat in the cookies.
As the cookies are baking, the chilled fat in the dough will take longer to melt then room temperature dough fat. Therefore the cookies will spread less.
How to Store Shortbread Cookies
The baked cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. I sometimes store mine in the fridge because I like cold cookies. They will last up to 10 days by storing them in the fridge.
How to Freeze Shortbread Cookies
To freeze the shortbread cookies, place parchment paper in between the layers of the completely cooled cookies this prevents them from sticking together when they are in the containers for freezing, or you can also place the baked cooled cookies on a cookie sheet and freeze them, then move the frozen cookies to either airtight bags or containers. Baked Shortbread Cookies will last up to 6 months in the freezer.
The unbaked cookie dough can also be frozen. Place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
How to make the Perfect Shortbread Base for Bar Cookies
There are some delicious Bar Cookies that call for a simple Shortbread Base such as Lemon Cheese Cake Bars or my personal favourites Coconut Jam Squares. All you need are three ingredients, butter, sugar and flour to make the perfect Shortbread base for a Bar Cookie.
5 Must Bake Shortbread Cookies
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without shortbread so here are another five recipes that should definitely be on your baking list! Fast, easy and melt in your mouth perfection!
- Almond Crescent Cookies
- The Best Simple Two Way Shortbread Cookies
- Easy Chocolate Chip Whipped Shortbread
- Shortbread Cookies One Dough Two Ways
- Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
So if Shortbread Cookies are a must on your Holiday Baking List, then I hope you give one or even all of these a try, and let me know how you like them. Enjoy!
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE SHORTBREAD
- 1¼ cups + 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (at least 11% protein or higher) (180 grams total, if you double or triple the recipe double or triple this amount)
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons butter (softened)* (155 grams total, if you double or triple the recipe double or triple this amount)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons powdered / icing sugar (75 grams total, if you double or triple the recipe double or triple this amount)
- zest 1 lemon
*If you use unsalted butter then add ¼ teaspoon of salt. Be sure to use a good quality butter, apparently this year 2022, store brand butter quality is not what it used to be. Less fat could mean a dry not so tasty cookie.
LEMON GLAZE
- 1¼ cups powdered / icing sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon whole / whipping cream or milk
Instructions
- Sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a wooden spoon mix together the butter, sugar and zest. Add the sifted flour mixture a little at a time, stirring between additions. Once the dough starts to come together (even if you haven't added all the flour), move to a flat surface and knead into a compact ball. (If you need extra flour add one tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too crumbly add more butter, a little at a time).
- Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. You can also shape the dough into a log or two, refrigerate then slice and bake.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out cookies. Place cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 15 – 20 minutes while the oven is pre-heating.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C).
- Bake the cookies for approximately 12 minutes. Let cool completely before drizzling with glaze. Enjoy.
LEMON GLAZE
- In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and cream, if too thin add more sugar too thick add either more lemon juice or cream.
Hi Dee, can this dough be frozen?
Thanks! Deb
Hi Deb, yes it can be frozen. It will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
I wonder how much lemon juice I should add to this recipe to have a nice tinge of lemon but not too sour? Got all the ingredients and excited to try it out!
Hi Zee, I would add more zest then juice, zest makes it more lemony without making it sour. So if you want a more lemony taste maybe zest from 1 1/2 -2 lemons. Let me know how it goes.
Just found the best way to use extra lemons. I’m not a baker but this is so easy to make and so yummy that this is the 3rd batch I’m making in a week! I just left out the icing and reduced the sugar, adding a little lemon juice to the mix as well.
Hi Francesca, thanks so much, so glad you like them. Have a great week.
Have some lemons to use, so these cookies like a delicious way to use them! I would like to form into a log or 2, then slice – just wondered about the size of the logs diagonally (How thick should the log be) & how thick to slice them? 1/4″, 1/2″? Thank you very much1
Hi Janet well it depends on how big you want the cookies to be, maybe 2 inches across, and I cut 1/4 inch, or even 1/3 inch, I think 1/2 would be too thick. Let me know how it goes.
I must have missed the baking temperature!
Hi Susan, yes it is written in the recipe card (bottom of the post). Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C). I hope like them.
Hello Dee, I just took my second batch of cookies out of the oven. For some reason the first batch disappeared quickly…lol. They are delicious. Merry Christmas.
Hi Bobbie thanks glad you enjoyed them. Merry Christmas.
Hi. Because there is cream in the glaze, should they be stored in the fridge?
Hi Kristie they can be stored at room temperature for about 4 days but if your house is quite warm they are better stored in the fridge. And yes with the glaze fridge is best. 🙂
Wondering if these would be successful, using gluten-free flour? I use King Arthur GF flour.
Hi Laurie, I really can’t say as I have never made them with gluten free flour. If the protein count isn’t around 11% they could spread. Let me know how it goes.
Hi! The recipe tastes great! I added a tablespoon of lemon juice bc I love lemon flavor! My only issue is that the cookies spread while baking. Any idea why? I added more flour than you have listed here, bc the dough was too sticky… but other than that, I followed the directions to the T. If I add corn starch, would it help prevent the spread?
Hi Dee could be that the flour was a lower protein count, a higher protein (around 11.5- 12% and higher) helps keep cookies from spreading. Let me know.
If the dough was not Chilled enough that is many times the issue as well ..
I definitely chilled the dough…even chilled the cut cookies again before putting in the oven to see if that helped, but alas, it did not.
Hi Dee, I’m sure it was your flour, it should be a higher content protein, from 11% +.
Hi Rosemary, I bought your cookbook (just received it today) because they were amazing. One question: I’ve seen some versions that call for juice in the dough and the cookbook version does not. The juice adds stronger lemon flavor which we love, but exactly how much juice do you consider to be in one lemon? Thank you for answering my question. Your book is worth buying for the photos: it’s beautiful. Barbara
Hi Barbara, actually the only difference between zest and juice is that juice will also give the cookie a sour flavour, if you like that then by all means you can add it. Apparently 1 lemon will give 2-3 tablespoons of juice. Thanks so much so glad you like the book. Take care and Merry Christmas.
Hi, this recipe looks so good and would love to try it for my Christmas cookie boxes. Can I substitute the lemon juice and zest for lemon extract?
Hi Eva yes Im sure you could substitute with lemon extract. Because extract is much strong use 1/2 the amount, so since there is roughly 1 tablespoon of zest in a lemon use 1/2 tablespoon of extract. Let me know how it goes. Unless of course you want it a lot stronger.
I substituted Swerve confectioners erythritol sugar (zero calories and no impact on blood sugar) because we have diabetes in the family. These turned out fantastic. They were so good that I will make them this way all the time. The Swerve made the lemon icing very cooling to the taste. A very refreshing treat! Thanks.
Hi Dawn, thanks so much, and thanks for letting me know about the Swerve, interesting. Take care.
Can these be baked, then frozen (without the glaze) ? I’m considering baking the cookies then adding the glaze once I pull them out of the freezer and thawing
Hi Jodi, yes they can be frozen, once they are completely chilled place them in a freezer safe container and freeze. And as you say glaze when thawed. 🙂
My granddaughter is allergic to eggs so I’m always on the lookout for new recipes for her. These were a huge hit! She loved them (and so did my husband!). Very simple to make…will definitely be making these again during the Christmas season. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Ann, thanks so much, so glad your granddaughter liked them. Take care.
Hi i was just wondering, would it be possible to add lemon zest after i’ve refrigerated the dough?
Hi Annie, well you would have to knead it in, the problem would be that the cookies won’t be as tender when they are baked because you are working the dough too much. Maybe you could sprinkle some on top of the cut out cookies before baking. Let me know how it goes.
I’m going to be making these in the next couple of weeks, can I add a little bit of yellow food coloring to give them a slight “lemony” look? Thank you
Hi Jodi, yes you can, I would add it when the dough is starting to come together. Let me know how it goes.