Melt In Your Mouth Luxurious Lemon Shortbread Cookies (2024)

Sweet and buttery, Lemon Shortbread Cookies are simple cookies perfect for holidays, special events or just as a treat for lemon lovers. Included are common challenges and solutions when making this American shortbread cookie.

This post may contain affiliate links which I earn a small portion in sales if a purchase is made. Rest assuredthough, it is never at any additional cost to you.

What Is Shortbread

Scottish Shortbread

A traditional Scottish cookie (biscuit), shortbread is made of 1 part sugar to 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour. Often you will find the traditional recipes to be made with oat flour and or a combination of oat flour and cornstarch.

American Shortbread

Here in the U.S. most shortbread recipes will be made with all-purpose flour, butter, sugar, salt and usually some sort of flavoring such as vanilla or lemon.

Ingredients Needed

• Fresh Lemons– For these cookies I used lemons from Costco which tend to run on the larger side. Depending on the size store bought lemons, it is wise to purchase 5-6 when they are smaller to ensure there is enough zest to flavor the cookies.
• Lemon Extract– This is helpful in amping up the lemon flavor.
• All Purpose Flour– This ingredient is the main difference in American shortbread cookies compared to other varieties.
• Granulated Sugar– As a fun tip, organic sugar has a tarnish color which lends in helping lemon baked goods look yellow without any food dye.
• Unsalted Butter– For consistency, buy the best quality of American style butter you can afford. Land O’ Lakes is the most common through the US. However, I love Clover, Vital Farms or Organic Valley butter.
• Salt– I use Maldon’s Sea Salt Flakes for all my cooking and baking. If using flakey salt in baking, it is crucial to grind the salt with a mortar and pestle to break down the flakes.
• Sparkling Sugar mixed with lemon zest for the top of the cookies not only makes these gorgeous, but also adds in a little extra tasty pizzaz.

How To Make

Making the Dough

1. Place butter on countertop for at least 6 hours to bring to room temperature.
2. Zest 2 lemons.

3. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment mix together softened butter with zest of 2 lemons making sure to scrape down sides halfway through mixing.

4. Mix granulated sugar with butter just until combined and then mix in lemon extract.

5. Sift together flour and salt. With stand mixer turned off, add all of the flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until dough just comes together. This usually takes about 2 minutes. Pro Tip: Depending on the temperature of the butter, it may take longer than 2 minutes for the dough to come together. You will know the dough is done mixing when it sticks to the paddle attachment (see video for visual).
6. Place dough between two layer of parchment paper.
7. Using the under side of a large cookie sheet press dough to flatten. Wrap the dough with the edges of parchment and chill for 30 mins. Pro Tip: Flattening the dough with a cookie sheet and forming into a rectangle as best as possible makes for easier rolling and cutting of the cookies after chilling the dough.

Lemon Sugar

1. Zest a third lemon.
2. Measure Sparkling Sugar and add to zest.
3. Mix with a spoon until the zest and sugar are evenly distributed.

Cutting Shortbread Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.

2. Roll chilled dough into 1/2 inch thickness and form into a rectangle as best as possible. Using a sharp knife cut cookies into 1 inch by 3 inch rectangles.

There are two approaches for cutting the shortbread cookies.

1. Cut by hand using an approximate guess of what 1 inch by 3 inches would look like. There are no worries as the cookies do not need to be perfectly cut in those dimensions.
2. Use this cookie cutter.

Baking the Cookies

1. Using a spatula place cookies on 2 ungreased cookie sheets. Evenly sprinkle each cookie with sparkling sugar mixture.

2. Bake for 20-25 mins or until corners turn a light golden brown, making sure to rotate cookie trays halfway through baking.
3. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets for about 10 minutes and then carefully transfer with a spatula to a wired rack to completely cool.

Top Tips for Melt In Your Mouth Lemon Shortbread Cookies

• Room temperature butter allows for a better texture with this particular cookie. In addition, it is easier to mix with the lemon zest.
• Properly measuring the flour will make a world of difference in creating the melt in your mouth texture. To do so, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level with a butter knife. This step will prevent the flour from becoming too compacted, thereby creating a dry cookie.
• Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment will make this already easy cookie a complete breeze to make. Not sure which stand mixer is for you? You will want to check out this article.
• Don’t over mix the dough. It is also important to not over mix the butter and sugar as you do not want to add extra air into the dough. Mix the sugar and butter until just combined and then add in the flour and mix until it just comes together.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Dough is Too Crumbly

There are two possible reasons for the dough being too crumbly.

1. The flour was not measured correctly thereby adding in too much flour (see video for details).
2. The butter is on the colder side and dough needs to be mixed on low speed until it starts to stick to the paddle.

Shortbread Cookies Spread Too Much

If the cookies spread too much it is a sign that the butter was on the warmer side when mixed with the flour. This can happen during the warmer months of summer.

The solution with butter that is very soft is to chill the dough for 45 minutes to 1 hour before cutting and baking.

Lemon Flavor is Too Weak

When the lemon flavor is too weak it is a sign that not enough lemon zest was used. Ideally 3 tablespoons should be added to the dough and 1 1/2 tablespoons for the sparkling sugar topping.

Cookies Baked Unevenly

It is very common with ovens for them to have spots that run hot. To avoid cookies that bake unevenly simply rotate the pans halfway through baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use salted butter for these cookies?

Yes and no. I have, in a pinch, used salted butter in baking when I did not have unsalted on hand. It does change the sweetness of these cookies slightly and it is extremely important to eliminate the salt if doing so.

Your best bet though for the highest quality of cookie will be to follow the recipe exactly, using unsalted butter.

Do these Lemon Cookies freeze well?

If placed in an airtight freezer container these cookies will stay fresh for 6-8 weeks.

What events are these cookies best for?

Easter, Christmas, baby showers, summer holidays and get togethers are all perfect times to make these lemon cookies. Also, if you love lemons, these cookies are wonderful anytime of year.

What is the best way to zest a lemon?

For these lemon cookies a fine zest will work best. This tool is my favorite for doing this.

How can I use the leftover zested lemons?

I love the question! Juice the lemons using this tool and make Simple Herbed Lemon Vinaigrette, One Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice or Mediterranean Tuna Salad.

More Spring Recipes

Key Lime Pie

Roasted Asparagus

Lemon Roll Cake

Strawberry Walnut Salad

Mom’s Lemon Butter Bundt Cake

Italian Potato Salad

Dad’s Old Fashioned Fudge