These easy, light and refreshing Lemon Shortbread Cookies offer a little crunch, hint of lemon and that buttery flavor we all love! They’re made with just 4 ingredients. Adorable cookie stamps optional!
I love summer, but it’s hot. I like to spend my days submerged in water, or at least poolside to beat the heat.
As I’ve said “no” to work this summer and “yes” to more family time, I have enjoyed a lot of time outdoors and look forward to a lot more of it.
Each day we wake and talk about our plans for the day instead of having our summer mapped out. I’m really looking forward to check out the baby rhino at the St. Louis zoo when he makes his debut.
I’ve been watching the incredibly adorable videos with his sweet clunky feet. I have found that after these fun summer excursions the girls want sweet treats, but something a little more refreshing like homemade ice cream or anything with a hint of citrus.
These Lemon Shortbread Cookies are nothing short of amazing! A hint of sweet lemon flavor balanced with butter! (Psst… want some frosting with your lemon cookies? Check out these adorable frosted lemon cookies!)
I mixed up our classic shortbread cookie recipe for summer and they’re just as heavenly as they look. These Lemon Shortbread Cookies were a huge hit and so pretty, too! They require just a few ingredients and are so easy to make!
Table of Contents
Lemon Shortbread Ingredients
- Salted Butter – because butter makes everything better! Butter is the star ingredient in shortbread that gives them that melt in your mouth quality. If you prefer, you can of course use unsalted butter as well. Either way, bring butter to room temperature for best results.
- Brown Sugar – brown sugar gives these cookies a deeper flavor and a hint of color.
- Flour – all purpose flour
- Lemon Extract – one of my favorite summer ingredients! A little hint of lemon extract makes these cookies stand out. If you’re really in a pinch, you can substitute lemon juice, however you get more flavor from extract.
- Lemon Zest – zest offers more flavor than extract and adds a touch of color to these cookies. Meyer lemons are my favorite, but the zest of any lemon will work!
Lemon Shortbread Cookies are perfect for when you’re in the mood for something sweet, but not too sweet. I can’t resist the buttery flavor of shortbread!
How to Make Lemon Shortbread Cookies
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Whip butter until smooth in texture and light in color.
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Add brown sugar until combined.
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Mix in lemon extract and zest.
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Gradually add in flour until dough begins to form. Add up to an additional ½ c flour if needed so that the dough forms and ball and isn’t sticky.
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Wrap dough ball in plastic wrap for 30 minutes (no longer or it will become difficult to work with).
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Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
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Roll dough to ½” thick on a floured surface, use cookie stamps and cutters to cut and place on a baking sheet.
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Bake 10-15 minutes (depending on size of your cutters), watching carefully as to not over-bake.
Optional: If you’re not using cookie stamps, roll chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and slice.
You can find the pretty little summer inspired honey comb and bee cookie stamps here and more details about this summer soirée here.
How to Store Shortbread Cookies
One of the best things about Lemon Shortbread is that they also keep incredibly well! Simply store shortbread cookies in an airtight container for up to a week!
Refrigerated they keep 10-14 days. To freeze shortbread cookies in an airtight container, wrap container with plastic wrap or in a ziplock to prevent freezer odor from seeping in and freeze up to 1 month.
Hope you’re having a sunny summer! What are you favorite refreshing summer sweets?
More Lemon Recipes You’ll Love
Sweet
- Lemon Ice Cream
- Lemon Loaf
- Lemon Pie
- Lemon Glaze – a great way to take this Lemon Shortbread over the top!
- Lemon Pound Cake
Savory
- Lemon Chicken
- Lemon Spaghetti with Artichokes
- Basil Lemon Pasta Salad
- Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Basil Lemon Pasta Recipe
If you enjoy this Lemon Shortbread recipe as much as we do, please leave a 5 star review in the comments below! Let’s connect: instagram | newsletter | facebook | pinterest
Originally published June 2017.
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cup salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 1/2 cup flour + up to 1/2 c flour, if needed
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Whip butter until smooth and light in color. Add brown sugar until combined.
- Mix in lemon extract and zest.
- Gradually add in flour until dough begins to form. Add up to an additional ½ c flour if needed so that the dough forms and ball and isn't sticky.
- Wrap dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Roll dough to ½" thick on a floured surface, use cookie stamps and cutters to cut and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake 10-15 minutes (depending on size of your cutters), watching carefully as to not over-bake.
These tasted really good but I had so much trouble getting the dough to stay together. It kept breaking and peeling every time
I tried to roll it out. I managed to roll a half dozen and bake but had to stop because I couldn’t get the dough to cooperate:(
Shortbread can be a touch challenging that way. Allowing the dough to slightly warm makes it easier to work with.
Can I wrap the dough in parchment and make a roll, refrigerate, then slice them when cool?
Absolutely!
Hi. I’m making these for a ‘buzz by’ baby shower. I can’t get the bee to be well defined… trick???
COLD dough, bake at a lower temperature longer if needed. Enjoy!
I don’t care for lemon extract. Has anyone tried using lemon juice instead?
I recommend replacing with zest. Enjoy!
I was skeptical, but you’re right, these were really easy to make and everyone loved them! Thanks for another great recipe!
Esa cantidad que dices C en la harina es cucharadas o tazas que medida es
c = cup Enjoy!
Great recipe! Can’t wait to try it, where can I find the lovely stamps?
You can find them here! Enjoy!
Shortbread cookies are my favorite because they’re not too sweet and the lemon took them over the top!
Had I only read a little further, I would have seen it! Thanks for including it in the post.
Where did you find your adorable cookie molds? As always, a great post. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Ha! No problem! Enjoy!
This looks so yummy! Shortbread is my husband’s favorite cookie but I’ve never tried a lemon one.
I am confused about the nutrition facts? We read those closely since my husband is a type I diabetic. I do know that one Walker shortbread cookie is 11g of carbs. So I assume the 300g listed here is for the whole recipe? Not just one cookie? The right side of the nutrition chart is cut off on my page – maybe it’s my browser? So I can’t read it clearly.
Thanks!
No, that’s the daily recommendation. I’m sorry, nutrition isn’t configured for all of my recipes yet, but I’m working on it.
These were so good! I’ll definitely make them again.