Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do sugar cookies taste lemony? ›

Lemon Sugar Cookie Dough

In the first step, adding lemon zest with the sugar and butter ensures that the mixing process will work on the zest to release those citrusy lemon flavors. Fresh lemon juice is also added in a later step with the vanilla and egg.

The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender. → Follow this tip: One of the keys to great sugar cookies is mixing the dry ingredients only until they're just incorporated, and not a second longer. Once the dry ingredients are added, less mixing equals more tender cookies.

Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).

The ingredients you used could be the culprit – using different sugars, melted butter, baking powder or baking soda can alter a cookie's texture and taste.

There are several reasons why the cookies may have become dry and crumbly but the two most likely are that either the cookies were baked for too long or too much flour was added to the dough. The cookie should be baked only until the edges are slightly golden and the top looks a little wrinkled.

Get a recipe, buy the ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla). Why buy ready-to-bake when it is really easy to make sugar cookies? You can add citrus zest, cinnamon, or almond extract to the dough. You could also ice them with a tasty frosting and add some nuts or toasted coconut.

Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown. Adding too little sugar can affect the taste and texture of cookies. Adding too much can cause them to be brittle. Take your time creaming the sugar and butter together at the beginning.

The #1 Reason Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough is simple: it vastly improves your cookies in both taste and texture. If you're like most, you don't want to take the time to chill your cookie dough.

Which One Should I Use in Cookies? Basically, cookies made with butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough. However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening. Cookies made with shortening bake up taller and are more tender, but aren't as flavorful.

How long should I chill sugar cookie dough? ›

Instead, use parchment paper to prevent sticking and help the cookies keep their shape. Don't let the dough get warm. Notice the dough needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours. Keep the dough cold until you put the cookies in the oven.

Powdered sugar has a much finer texture and a higher cornstarch content, which can absorb moisture and lead to a drier, crumbly cookie texture. If you use powdered sugar in place of granulated sugar, you'll likely end up with cookies that are more cake-like and less chewy.

Adding it to cake or cookie batters prevents sugar from banding together and crystallizing, meaning that it results in more of a tender chew—snickerdoodles and sugar cookies wouldn't be the same without cream of tartar. The same effect is why it's added to some frostings and syrups, where it helps keep things smooth.

Baking soda also serves another important purpose when it comes to cookies: It encourages spreading by raising the mixture's pH, which slows protein coagulation. This gives the dough more time to set before the eggs set, which results in a more evenly baked cookie.

"They're moist and chewy, and the flavor is the perfect combination of butter, sugar, flour and egg," said Thiemann. "They have the perfect amount of sweetness and an authentic homemade taste.

However, most often it isn't old butter that's the culprit when it comes to bitter shortbread, but rather duration and temperature. Bake Club claims that over-baking, or even baking shortbread on too high a heat, can cause the butter to burn, leading to a sour or pungent aftertaste in the cookies.

What do they taste like? These Sugar Cookies are buttery and sweet (but not too sweet), and they have a lovely melt-in-your-mouth texture. They taste similar to shortbread but with a strong vanilla flavour.

Using room temperature butter can produce a more cakey, airy cookie because the butter melts in the oven, which creates air pockets in the cookie. Melting the butter beforehand will give you more dense, chewy cookies.