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Lemon Shortbread Cookies are sweet and tender with tons of lemon flavor from lemon zest and lemon juice. They’re buttery and crunchy and the perfect shortbread cookie recipe – you can make them any shape you want. These cookies are the best recipe for lemon lovers everywhere.
I am a certified lemon dessert lover! I’ve made lemon cookies before, and classic shortbread cookies, but this recipe is a mixture of both: easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies! They’re the perfect shortbread cookie recipe but with the addition of lemon zest and juice they have a distinct lemon flavor and they still melt in your mouth like shortbread should.
I make them as cutout cookies with a scalloped round cookie cutter, but you can also make these into lemon shortbread bars. They’re delicious plain or you can dip them in melted white chocolate or make a lemon drizzle too. I love making these in spring and summer, but they also have a regular appearance on my Christmas cookie platters along with lemon bars. They’re the perfect cookies if you love buttery, crumbly shortbread!
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: You must use real butter. There is no substitution for real, unsalted butter in shortbread. Make sure it’s softened butter.
- Cornstarch: A bit of cornstarch keeps these nice and soft and tender, while still being crunchy.
- I use powdered sugar in my shortbread, instead of granulated sugar.
- Lemon: Use fresh lemon juice and zest, not bottled, for best results. I use a microplane to get the fresh lemon zest off the rind – you’ll want a good amount (2 tablespoons) because the zest is really where all the lemony flavor is.
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How to make Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- I always make lemon sugar by whisking the lemon zest into the powdered sugar. This infuses the sugar with the lemon flavor and adds lemon in every single bite.
- It’s important to whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, and salt) before creaming the butter and sugar.
- I like to use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to make shortbread, but a hand mixer works too.
- Cream the butter and sugar until it’s nice and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes, then mix in the lemon zest and juice and vanilla extract.
- Once the wet ingredients are combined, mix in the flour mixture.
- It’s important to allow lemon shortbread cookie dough to chill so that the flavors develop. I roll out the cookie dough between sheets of parchment paper or wax paper. Use a rolling pin and get it to about 1/4-inch thick. Rolling cookie dough this way, with parchment on your work surface, keeps it tender – it won’t have too much flour added.
- Once the dough is chilled, you can use a cookie cutter to cut desired shapes and bake until no longer glossy and light golden brown on the bottoms and edges.
Storing Cookies
- Store in an airtight container for several days (no need to refrigerate).
- Freeze for several months in the container or a large resealable freezer bag.
Expert Tips
- These cookies have tons of bright lemon flavor but if you want a little more oomph, add a little bit of lemon extract.
- Re-roll the dough as needed to use up the dough scraps, but don’t re-roll them more than twice or the dough will get tough.
- To make them as bar cookies, you can press them into a 10×15-inch baking pan that’s been lined with a piece of parchment paper.
- Feel free to to dip them in melted white chocolate or add a simple lemon glaze (made with powdered sugar and lemon juice).
Lemon Shortbread Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (24g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (85g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter , softened
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk zest into powdered sugar and set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand or a stand mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar until smooth and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and lemon juice, then mix until smooth.
- Add flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Divide dough in half. Roll each half out to 1/4-inch thick between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper.
- Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Chilling the dough lets it rest and adds to the overall flavor of the shortbread.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- You can cut your shortbread as desired, using cookie cutters for shapes or circles or just cut them into squares or rectangles.
- These don’t spread, so you don’t need to space them more than an inch or two on the cookie sheets. Bake for about 9-12 minutes (depending on size of cookie and thickness) until they start to get golden around the edges.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to a month.
These are delicious cookies! I will definitely make them again. 😍😋
Great to hear, Denise! Thank you 🙂
What size cookie cutter?
It can be any size – the one I’m using is a 2-inch round.
When you say powder sugar do you mean icing sugar or caster sugar?
Confectioners’ Sugar (icing sugar)
Hi Dorothy, going to make this cookie.Love shortbread.
Hope you love them!
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