These lemon shortbread cookies are buttery, tender, and filled with contemporary lemon taste. This straightforward shortbread comes along with simply 7 easy components and solely 20 minutes of hands-on prep. 

Soften-in-Your-Mouth Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I have been baking and sharing recipes right here since 2012, and if there’s one factor I do know, it is {that a} good shortbread by no means goes out of fashion. You liked my whipped shortbread cookies a lot that I knew I needed to convey you a citrusy spring model – and these lemon butter cookies are it.

Contemporary lemon zest goes proper into the dough, after which every cookie will get a swirl of zesty lemon buttercream on high. They’re delicate, melt-in-your-mouth, and so they make your kitchen scent unimaginable.

They be part of a well-loved shortbread household on my weblog: my lemon thumbprint cookies crammed with lemon curd, pecan shortbread cookies, hazelnut shortbread cookies, and my almond shortbread cookies with Amaretto. In case you cherished any of these, I promise these will probably be your new favourite lemon cookies. Make them year-round: for Easter and Mom’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, bridal showers, and summer time gatherings!

Recipe Highlights

• Soften-in-your-mouth texture. The key is cornstarch. It retains the crumb gentle, gentle, and delicate as a substitute of chewy or powerful. It additionally helps the cookies maintain their form whereas they bake.
• Simply 7 easy components for the cookies. Butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, cornstarch, salt, and contemporary lemon zest. I am prepared to guess you’ve got most of those in your pantry proper now.
• Simple cut-out cookies that preserve their form. Roll, minimize, bake! Use any cookie cutter form you want for holidays and celebrations all 12 months spherical.
• Vibrant, actual lemon taste. Contemporary lemon zest within the dough and within the buttercream means these buttery lemon shortbread cookies style like precise lemons, not lemon sweet.
• 3 ways to complete them. Unfold with lemon buttercream, drizzle with a pourable lemon glaze, or flip them into lemon curd sandwich cookies.
• Make-ahead pleasant. The dough can chill in a single day, and the baked cookies freeze superbly.

Seize These Substances

This recipe consists of two elements (shortbread cookies and lemon buttercream). Let me provide you with just a few recommendations on every ingredient. For full recipe directions and the ingredient checklist, scroll all the way down to the complete printable recipe card beneath.

1) Shortbread Cookie Substances

• Unsalted butter (1 cup, room temperature) – It ought to be gentle sufficient to dent simply together with your finger, however not greasy or melted.
• Powdered sugar (½ cup) – Powdered sugar dissolves proper into the butter, which is what offers these cookies their fantastic, tender crumb. Granulated sugar would make them crispier.
• Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) – A bit of vanilla rounds out and softens the lemon.
• All-purpose flour (1½ cups) – Measure it correctly: fluff it up, spoon it into your measuring cup, and degree the highest. Packed flour is the #1 reason behind dry, crumbly shortbread dough.
• Cornstarch (½ cup) – Do not skip this! Cornstarch is the key to that gentle, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture, and it retains the cookies from spreading within the oven.
• Salt (¼ teaspoon) – Simply sufficient to stability the sweetness.
• Lemon zest (from 1 massive lemon) – Zest solely the intense yellow a part of the peel. The white pith beneath is bitter.

2) Lemon Buttercream Substances

• Powdered sugar (1½ cups)
• Unsalted butter (½ cup / 1 stick, room temperature)
• Lemon zest (1 tablespoon)
• Lemon juice (1-2 tablespoons, as wanted) – Begin with a tablespoon for a spreadable buttercream; add extra for a looser, pourable lemon glaze.
• Pinch of salt

The right way to Make Lemon Shortbread Cookies (Step-by-Step)

This can be a fast overview with my ideas alongside the best way. For the whole recipe with actual quantities, scroll all the way down to the complete printable recipe card beneath.

• Cream the butter and sugar. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a big bowl, cream the butter with a hand mixer, then add the powdered sugar and blend till gentle and fluffy. Whip within the vanilla.

• Add the dry components. Add the flour, salt, cornstarch, and lemon zest on high of the butter combination and whisk the dry components collectively somewhat. Then stir every little thing with a picket spoon till simply mixed. Overmixing is the enemy of tender shortbread.
• Chill the dough. Press the dough right into a thick disc, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour. Do not skip this: chilly dough means clear rolling and cut-out cookies that maintain their form.

• Roll, minimize, and bake. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Roll the dough to about ¼-½ inch thick, minimize into shapes, and bake for 15-20 minutes, till the perimeters are simply barely golden (shortbread ought to keep pale). Cool 5 minutes on the sheet, then switch to a wire rack.
• Make the lemon buttercream. Beat the butter till easy, then combine within the powdered sugar, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Add lemon juice somewhat at a time: thicker for spreading, looser for a pourable glaze.

• Frost and end. Unfold buttercream over every cooled cookie (or pour the glaze over cookies set on a wire rack) and sprinkle with additional lemon zest.

My High Ideas for Good Shortbread

• Room temperature butter, not melted. Mushy sufficient to dent with a finger. Butter that is too heat makes the dough sticky, and the cookies unfold.
• Measure flour the fitting method. Fluff, spoon, degree. I’ve examined this recipe a number of occasions, and correctly measured flour is the distinction between tender cookies and crumbly frustration.
• Do not skip the cornstarch. It is the key to thick, gentle, melt-in-your-mouth cut-out cookies that do not unfold.
• Cool the cookies fully earlier than frosting. Buttercream on heat cookies turns right into a melty puddle. I do know it is laborious to attend, however persistence is a advantage right here. 
• Chill once more in case your kitchen is heat. If the cut-out shapes soften when you work, pop the cookie sheet within the fridge for 10 minutes earlier than baking.
• Preserve them pale. Overbaked shortbread turns dry and crisp. Pull the cookies when the perimeters are simply barely golden.
• Zest earlier than you juice. In case you’re making the glaze or lemon curd model, zest the lemon first. It is practically not possible to zest a squeezed lemon.

FAQ (You Ask, I Reply)

1. Can I make the dough forward of time? Sure! The wrapped dough disc retains within the fridge for as much as 2 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 10-Quarter-hour earlier than rolling so it does not crack.
2. Why did my shortbread cookies unfold? Often the butter was too gentle (or barely melted) or the flour wasn’t measured generously sufficient. Ensure that the dough is effectively chilled earlier than baking. In case your kitchen may be very heat, chill the cut-out cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes earlier than they go within the oven.
3. My dough is just too crumbly to roll – what now? Shortbread dough is of course somewhat crumbly, nevertheless it ought to come collectively when pressed. Knead it gently just a few occasions together with your fingers, as the heat helps. If it is nonetheless dry, you doubtless packed the flour; add a teaspoon of soppy butter and work it in.
4. Can I make these with no mixer? Sure! Very gentle butter and a sturdy picket spoon will get you there. It simply takes somewhat extra elbow grease to get the butter and sugar fluffy.
5. Can I exploit bottled lemon juice? For the most effective taste, use contemporary lemons. You want the zest anyway, and contemporary juice tastes noticeably higher.
6. Do these cookies want to remain pale? Sure, basic shortbread ought to be pale with simply barely golden edges. In case your cookies are browning rapidly, your oven might run scorching; test them a couple of minutes early.
7. Can I double the recipe? Completely. This recipe doubles superbly. Simply chill the dough in two discs and bake in batches.

Extra Shortbread Cookie Recipes

• Whipped Shortbread Cookies – the basic melt-in-your-mouth cookie that impressed this lemon model
• Lemon Thumbprint Cookies – buttery shortbread crammed with zesty lemon curd
• Pecan Shortbread Cookies – nutty, crumbly, and ideal with espresso
• Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies – simply 5 components