Lemon Shortbread Cookies Recipe
These easy lemon shortbread cookies are buttery, rich and have the perfect tart-sweet lemon flavor! They're dipped in white chocolate. Lemon lovers will love these!
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 164kcal
Ingredients
Lemon Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from about 2 lemons, using zest only
- 1 egg yolk
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
White Chocolate Topping (optional)
- 6 ounces white chocolate
Instructions
Lemon Cookies
- Sift together the flour and salt and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add the lemon zest followed by the egg yolk. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half on parchment paper lightly sprinkled with flour. Roll the dough in any shape to about 1/4-inch thick. Place the sheets of parchment paper with the dough on them on a baking sheet. Cover each baking sheet with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
- Take the dough out of the fridge. Lift the parchment paper off the tray and onto the counter. Carefully run a long knife carefully between the parchment paper and the cookie dough. Use cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Re roll dough and cut out cookies, using up all the dough.
- Chill cut out cookies in the refrigerator 20 additional minutes. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit while the cookies are chilling. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes then transfer them to racks to cool completely.
White Chocolate Topping (optional)
- Once the cookies are baked and have cooled, melt the white chocolate. Set your microwave to 50% power and heat the white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Give it a stir between intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Dip or dredge 1/3 or 1/2 of each cookie in the chocolate. Use the side of the bowl or a small spatula to gently wipe away excess chocolate from the bottom or edge of the cookie. Place on a wire rack placed over some parchment paper or a baking sheet (this will catch the chocolate that may drip). Instead of dipping the cookies, you can drizzle them with melted white chocolate.
- Optional-for a little extra lemon flavor and decoration, zest some extra lemon zest over the white chocolate cookies. Do this right after adding the white chocolate so the zest can stick to it. Allow the cookies to set about 30 minutes.
Video
Notes
Lemons: Avoid zesting the white part of the peel.
Cookie cutters: I use 2½ inch circular cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. You can use a different size or shape. Baking time may vary depending on the size of the cookies.
Add ins: Add chopped pistachios, almonds or walnuts to the dough. You could also add mini chocolate chips or sprinkle nuts over the white chocolate before it sets.
White Chocolate: Dip the cookies in white chocolate or drizzle the white chocolate on top.
Lemon Icing: Instead of white chocolate, top the cookies with lemon icing. The lemon icing for my lemon sour cream cookies would be perfect!
Storage: Store leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. The dough can be rolled into a cylinder shape or rolled out on parchment paper ahead of time. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight until you're ready to bake the cookies. Freeze leftover cookies without the chocolate on top in a freezer storage bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 37mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
