Lemon Drizzle Cookies
These are the cookie version of a classic lemon drizzle cake! Soft, chewy cookies are made with brown butter, ground almonds & plenty of lemon and are topped with a zingy lemon icing.
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I’m going to make a bold statement & say that these lemon drizzle cookies are one of the best cookies that I’ve ever made or eaten! They’re soft, chewy & packed full of flavour, so are everything that a good cookie should be, plus they taste like a lemon drizzle cake. Lemon lovers, this one’s for you!
This batch of cookies can be broken down into 2 components. First, we have a brown butter, almond & lemon cookie that’s chewy & soft. Then there’s the lemon drizzle icing that’s brushed onto the cookies whilst they’re still warm, which gives them a crunchy glaze, like you’d get on a classic lemon drizzle cake! These are some seriously delicious cookies & they’re incredibly easy to make.
For more cookie flavours, check out our ever growing collection of cookie recipes! There’s a whole load of flavours here, from miso banana bread, to brown butter s’more & black sesame cheesecake. If there’s a cookie that you’d like to see on the blog, feel free to leave us a comment at the bottom of this post!
What You’ll Need
- Lemons – You’ll 2 whole lemons for this recipe, plus a teaspoon of lemon extract if you have it. The zest & extract is used for the cookie dough & the juice is used for the icing.
- Sugars – These cookies use 3 different types of sugar. Caster & light brown sugar are used for the dough & icing sugar is used for the icing.
- Butter – It’s best to use unsalted butter when baking, as it allows us control over the salt content.
- Eggs – For the cookie dough, you’ll need a large egg plus 2 extra yolks. The yolks give the cookies a soft, fudgy texture. The large egg should weigh around 50 grams out of the shell.
- Flour – The cookie dough is made with plain/all purpose flour.
- Cornflour – Adding a small amount of cornflour to the dough gives the cookies a chewy texture.
- Ground Almonds – Lemon & almonds work really well together! Adding ground almonds to the cookie dough gives them a subtle nutty flavour & a soft, chewy texture.
- Raising Agents – You’ll need both baking powder & bicarbonate of soda for the cookie dough.
- Salt – Don’t be tempted to skip the salt in the cookie dough, it really does make a difference!
How To Make Lemon Drizzle Cookies
These lemon drizzle cookies have 2 components; a chewy lemon & almond cookie that’s made with brown butter for extra flavour then a zingy classic lemon drizzle icing…
Lemon & Almond Cookies
When I was developing this recipe, I started with my chewy brown butter vanilla cookies & tweaked them slightly to make them taste like a lemon drizzle cake! The cookie dough is still made with brown butter but there’s the addition of lemon zest & extract & we’re going to be replacing some of the flour with ground almonds. This gives the cookies a punchy lemon flavour & a soft and chewy texture.
Step By Step Instructions
- Brown Butter
First, we add butter into a pan then cook over a medium heat until browned. We place the brown butter into a bowl & leave to cool.
For more information on brown butter & for a step by step guide, take a look at our brown butter guide. - Rub Zest Into Sugar
Next, we add caster & light brown sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer then grate in lemon zest. Then to extract the oils from the zest, we rub the zest into the sugar with our fingers. - Mix Butters & Sugars
Now we add the cooled brown butter & some softened butter to the sugar then beat on a medium speed until combined. We don’t want to over mix the butter though, so this will only take a minute or two. - Add Dry Ingredients
Next, we add plain flour, ground almonds, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda & table salt to the butter then mix on a low speed until just combined. Then we chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes, so that it firms up slightly. - Shaping
Once our dough has chilled, we use a cookie scoop (or spoon!) to scoop it into 12 equal portions, each weighing around 70 grams. Then we roll each portion into a ball. - Chilling
Now that our cookies are shaped, we need to chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This ensures that the cookies don’t spread out too much in the oven. - Baking
We bake the cookies for 13 minutes (@ 175°c/350°f), until the edges are crisp & set but the centres are still soft. We then “scoot” the cookies into uniform circles with a large cutter. We’re using the “Pan Banging” technique when baking the cookies but more on that below. - Glazing
Once our cookies are baked, we let them cool for 3-4 minutes, brush them glaze then leave to cool completely.
Lemon Drizzle Icing
This is the icing that I use on my lemon drizzle loaf cake! Here, we mix lemon juice & icing sugar together to make a thick icing then brush it onto the cookies whilst they are still warm. The icing will set as the cookies cool, giving them a thin, crisp glaze that’s identical to a classic lemon drizzle cake!
The key thing here is to let the cookies cool for 3 or 4 minutes before brushing them with glaze as this gives them time to firm up slightly so that they don’t become misshapen as you apply the icing.
The Pan Banging Technique
If you’ve ever searched for a cookie recipe on Google, chances are you’ve come across the pan banging technique by Sarah Kieffer from The Vanilla Bean Blog. This technique involves banging the tray of cookies onto your oven rack towards the end of the cooking process. This causes the cookies to deflate, giving the cookies crinkly edges.
Here’s how we bake these cookies using the pan banging technique…
- Bake the cookies for 9 minutes (undisturbed).
- Next, open your oven door, lift up the baking tray inside the oven by a few inches then let it drop down against the oven rack. Use enough force so that the cookie starts to deflate.
- Bake for another 2 minutes then repeat the pan banging process.
- Bake for another 2 minutes (bringing the total bake time to 13 minutes) then take the cookies out of the oven.
The Cookie Scoot
The cookie scoot is a technique used to shape cookies into a perfect circle as soon as they come out of the oven. To do this, take a large circular cutter & use it to move (or scoot) the edges of the cookies, to make a perfect a circle. This is the secret to making a batch of uniform cookies. I find that a large cookie cutter works best!
Tips & Tricks
- Replace a small amount of the flour in the cookie dough with ground almonds, for an extra nutty flavour & for extra chewiness. Less gluten in the dough = an extra chewy texture. We add a small amount of cornflour to the dough for the same reason.
- Brown some of the butter & soften the rest. This gives the cookies the ideal balance between flavour, texture & spread in the oven.
- For maximum lemon flavour, add both lemon zest & lemon extract to the dough. We’ll be using the juice from the lemons for the icing!
- Let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before baking, so that the cookies don’t spread out too much in the oven.
- Use a large circular cutter to “scoot” the cookies into a perfect round shape as soon as they come out of the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lemon drizzle cookies will keep for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
The secret to getting the best glaze on cookies is to brush the icing on whilst the cookies are still warm. This way, the icing will set as the cookies cool & you’ll get a thin, even layer of glaze.
Cookie dough needs to be chilled before baking, so that it doesn’t spread out too much in the oven. This recipe calls for the cookie dough to be chilled for at least 2 hours or up to several days.
Yes, lemon drizzle cookie dough can be frozen & will keep in the freezer for several months! For the best results, defrost the cookie dough fully before baking.
How To Bake Lemon Drizzle Cookies In An Aga
With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas. Here’s how to cook this recipe in an Aga…
Use the boiling plate to brown the butter. Bake the cookies in the baking oven on the bottom set of runners. Instead of baking them as the recipe states, give them 10 minutes in total (6 minutes then pan bang, bake for another 2 minutes then pan bang again then bake for a final 2 minutes).
Equipment Used
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More Baking Recipes To Try!
- Brown Butter & Vanilla Glazed Cookies
- Classic School Cake
- Tres Leches Cake (3 Milk Cake)
- Brown Butter & Miso Pecan Pie Bars
- Tangzhong Dinner Rolls
- Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Watch How To Make This Recipe
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Lemon Drizzle Cookies
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Small Saucepan
- Microplane/Grater
- Cookie Scoop
- Baking Trays
- Large Circular Cutter
- Juicer
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 200 g Unsalted Butter
- 160 g Light Brown Sugar
- 125 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Lemons (Zested)
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract
- 250 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Ground Almonds
- 10 g Cornflour
- ¾ tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
- ½ tsp Table Salt
Lemon Drizzle Glaze
- 200 g Icing Sugar
- 2 Lemons (Juiced)
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Start by browning 120g of the butter. To do this, chop the butter into evenly sized pieces then place into a medium saucepan. Place over a medium heat & allow to melt, stirring regularly with a spatula. Keep cooking, until the butter starts to foam, smells nutty & you can see that the milk solids in the bottom of the pan have turned golden brown.
- Once the butter has browned, take it off the heat, transfer to a bowl then leave to cool to room temperature. In the meantime, chop the remaining 80g of butter into small pieces & leave to soften at room temperature.The brown butter should take around 30 minutes to cool.
- Next, add both of the sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer then add in the zest of 2 lemons. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugars then add in the brown butter & softened butter.Rubbing the zest into the sugar releases the oils from the lemon, which adds extra flavour!
- Use the paddle attachment to beat the butters & sugars on a medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until combined.Be careful not to over mix the butter & sugar, we don’t want to add too much air into the cookie dough as this will affect the baked cookies.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg, yolks & lemon extract together. Then slowly pour into the butter, with the mixer running on medium speed. Stop mixing once the eggs are just incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda & salt into the cookie dough then mix on a low speed until just combined.
- Next, chill the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, so that it firms up slightly.
Shaping
- Using a cookie scoop (or a spoon), portion the chilled cookie dough into 12 equally sized portions. Each should weigh around 70 grams.
- Using your hands, roll each portion of cookie dough into a ball then place them into an airtight container. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Lemon Glaze
- Add the icing sugar into a mixing bowl then whisk in enough lemon juice to make a smooth, thick icing. Set this aside for now.The icing needs to be thick enough to brush on top of the cookies without running off. I'd recommend using roughly 3 tbsp of lemon juice & making the glaze just before baking the cookies.
Baking
- Preheat an oven to 175°c/155°c fan (350°f/311°f).
- Place 3-4 balls of cookie dough onto a lined baking tray, making sure that there’s plenty of room between them.
- Bake the cookies for 9 minutes then open your oven door, lift up the baking tray inside the oven by a few inches then let it drop down against the oven rack. Use enough force so that the cookie starts to deflate. (This is the “Pan Banging” method.)
- Bake for a further 2 minutes then repeat the pan banging process.
- Bake for another 2 minutes (bringing the total bake time to 13 minutes) then remove from the oven.Once baked, the cookies' edges will be golden brown but the middles will still be soft.
- Using a large, round cookie cutter, gently scoot each cookie into a perfect round shape then leave to cool for 3-4 minutes, until they have firmed up slightly but are still warm.
- Brush the top of each cookie with a light coating of the lemon glaze then leave to cool completely before serving. Repeat the cooking & glazing process with the remaining cookie dough.The lemon glaze will set as the cookies cool!
