These Lemon Raspberry Cookies are soft and fluffy, sweet with a slight tang. This eggless sugar cookie recipe is made with lemon zest, lemon juice and frozen raspberries. The dough balls are rolled into lemon sugar prior to baking, which gives them a little extra pizazz! Finally, these raspberry lemon cookies are drizzled with a sweet raspberry glaze and sprinkled with some extra lemon zest. They taste like a refreshing glass of raspberry lemonade! If that wasn't enough, these cookies are gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be vegan!
This lemon raspberry cookie recipe is so refreshing! The outside of these beauties has a slight crunch thanks to the lemon infused sugar and the inside is soft and chewy! The lemon flavor isn't overpowering; it blends beautifully with the sweet-tart raspberry flavor profile! You don't have to add the raspberry drizzle but I think it makes these cookies seriously stunning! Thanks to all the moisture from the fruit, these raspberry cookies stay soft for days like my Strawberry Sugar Cookies!
For more fruity sugar cookie recipes, try my Lemon Sugar Cookies, my Blueberry Cookies, my Fruity Pebbles Cookies and my Lemon Blueberry Cookies.
Reasons to Love These Cookies
- Allergy Friendly- These cookies are gluten free, nut free, egg free and can easily be dairy free (vegan)!
- Soft & Chewy- The insides of these cookies are so fluffy!
- Covered in Lemon Sugar- The lemon sugar coating helps bring out that lemon flavor and gives the outside a nice crunch!
- Fresh Lemon Juice- The juice from the lemons gives the cookies this gorgeous yet mild tang like in my Lemon Buttercream Frosting!
- Raspberry Glaze- This pink glaze gives the cookies a lovely sweetness and a stunning (all natural) color like in my Raspberry Lemonade Cookies!
- That Gorgeous Color- These beauties have a gorgeous marbled pink, red and yellow hue and a stunning pink glaze with flecks of red! Best yet, these colors are all natural!
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour- If you also have nut allergies, make sure to use a brand that’s made in a nut free facility. I really love to use this gluten free flour because it’s nut safe but it does contain dairy. It also contains xanthan gum which really helps give baked goods their bounce.
- Milk- If there are no dairy allergies or if you’re not vegan, you can use regular whole milk. For non dairy, use a non dairy milk of your choosing.
- Unsalted Butter or Vegan Baking Sticks- Don’t use melted; the cookies will spread into a giant mess.
- Cornstarch and Water- These cookies have no egg so this mixture helps bind everything together.
- Lemons- Please only use fresh squeezed lemon juice. Prepackaged lemon juice can result in the cookies having a chemical taste. We need a total of 3 medium lemons for the juice and zest combined.
- Raspberries- You must use frozen raspberries and they must be chopped into tiny pieces. Eggless cookies want to spread and if you use fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries that are not chopped, there will be too much moisture. The dough will become a slimy wet mess and will spread out into a liquid disaster when baking.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
How to Make these Vegan
- Use a gluten free flour that’s free from dairy.
- Make sure the brand of sugar you use is vegan.
- Use vegan baking sticks instead of butter.
- Only use a non dairy milk of choice.
How to Make this recipe with All Purpose Flour
- Use 2 packed cups of regular flour (336 grams).
- You still need to chill the dough due to the lack of eggs.
This recipe has not been tested with these substitutions and/or variations due to celiac disease and food allergies. If you change any of the ingredients, please let us know how the recipe turned out in the comments below!
How to Make Lemon Raspberry Cookies
Here are the step by step instructions to make these raspberry lemon cookies!
Zest and Juice the Lemons and Chop the Raspberries
Step 1: Zest the Lemons
Wash and dry all 3 lemons. Take a zester and zest all 3 lemons. Put the zest in a little bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't get crunchy. Set aside.
Step 2: Juice the Lemons
Take one lemon, cut it in half and juice it. Make sure to remove any seeds if they get in the juice. Set aside.
There should be about 2 tablespoons of juice. If there isn't enough, juice another lemon.
Step 3: Chop the Raspberries
Measure out ½ cup frozen raspberries. Rough chop the raspberries into small pieces. Be careful not to over chop; you don't want a puddle of raspberry pulp.
Place the chopped raspberries into a freezer safe bowl and pop back into the freezer until you're ready to add them into the dough.
Make the Cookies
Step 1: Whisk Together the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the Cornstarch Water
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
Step 3: Cream the Sugar
In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter or vegan baking stick and 1 ¼ cups of the sugar until it is soft and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Step 4: Add in the other Wet Ingredients
Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture, milk, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the creamed butter and sugar. It will look pale yellow and chunky.
Step 5: Add in the Dry Ingredients, Chopped Raspberries and Freeze the Dough
Slowly beat in the gluten free flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.
Gently using a spatula, fold in the frozen chopped raspberries. The dough will become a lovely marbled pink color.
Keep the dough in the bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour. You must not skip this step or the cookies will spread everywhere and it must be frozen, not in the fridge.
Step 6: Make the Lemon Sugar
Once the dough is done chilling, in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Mix until completely combined.
Step 7: Scoop the Dough and Coat with the Lemon Sugar
I use an ice cream scoop or a large cookie scoop to make large cookies. It makes 11 scoops.
Roll each dough ball in the lemon sugar mixture to coat completely.
Step 8: Bake the Cookies
Place dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-16 minutes.
Store extra dough balls in the freezer while the rest are baking if they don't all fit. I only bake 6 at a time.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven by using a spatula to push them into a circle shape and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't do this, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess.
If adding the glaze, let the cookies cool completely before adding it, otherwise the glaze will turn into a liquid mess.
Make The Glaze (If Desired)
Step 1: Mix The Glaze Ingredients
In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, 1 or 2 raspberries and the 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water until combined and smooth.
Step 2: Drizzle The Glaze
Drizzle the raspberry glaze on top of the cool cookies. If you drizzle it on warm cookies, the glaze with melt. Let the glaze harden. Sprinkle with more lemon zest if desired.
Expert Baking Tips
- Use Packed Cups of Flour- Normally in baking we do not use packed cups however, when working with gluten free, I've found using packed cups works best to help the baked goods keep their shape. Or read the gram measurement.
- Use Room Temperature Butter- Do not use softened or melted butter/vegan baking sticks. The cookies will spread out when baking into a giant mess.
- Use Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice- This is to prevent the cookies from having a chemical taste.
- Keep the Lemon Zest Airtight- If you leave it uncovered and not in a bowl covered in plastic wrap while you bake, it will dry out and become crunchy.
- Do not use Fresh Raspberries- Using fresh makes the dough way too wet and causes the cookies to spread out everywhere. Also make sure you chop the frozen raspberries otherwise they will spread out too.
- Freeze the Dough- If you don’t freeze the dough for at least 1 hour, the cookies will spread and be flat and thin.
- Wash Your Cookie Scoop- If you noticed the dough is starting to get sticky, wash and dry your cookie scoop halfway through making the dough balls.
- Reshape the Cookies- If you want your cookies nice and round, reshape them as soon as they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them back into a circle shape.
- Making The Glaze- If the glaze appears too watery, add more confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. If it appears too thick, add more water ¼ teaspoon at a time. You want the glaze thin enough to drizzle but thick enough to solidify on the cookies. Also, if you want it a darker pink, add another raspberry.
Recipe FAQs
You can make the dough balls ahead of time and then freeze them. If doing this, there is no need to freeze them again, prior to baking.
Most gluten free baked goods are best made the same day, but you can make these cookies a day before!
Unlike most gluten free cookies, they’re actually so soft they stay fresh for several days but they must be stored in the fridge. Just make sure the glaze has completely solidified prior to storing them.
Yes! You can use a small cookie scoop.
Bake the cookies at the same temperature but for 13-14 minutes. Reshape as needed. Should make around 22 cookies.
No. Unfortunately due to the nature of the eggless cookies, that doesn't usually work. For more cookies with fruit, you can check out my recipes for Lemon Blueberry Cookies, Strawberry Sugar Cookies or Blueberry Cookies.
Once the glaze has hardened, store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not leave them at room temperature as they get very wet due to the raspberries.
They're still soft when in the fridge but you can leave let them come to room temperature before eating if desired. I prefer to eat them cold! They're so refreshing that way!
Other Lemon and Raspberry Recipes You'll Love
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Raspberry Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 cups gluten free flour (I use a 1:1 gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 2 medium lemons)
- ½ cup frozen raspberries , chopped
For the Lemon Sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (from about 1 medium lemon)
For the Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 frozen raspberries
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Wash and dry all 3 lemons. Take a zester and zest all 3 lemons. Put the zest in a little bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't get crunchy. Set aside.
- Take one lemon, cut it in half and juice it. Make sure to remove any seeds if they get in the juice. Set aside. There should be about 2 tablespoons of juice. If there isn't enough, juice another lemon.
- Measure out ½ cup frozen raspberries. Rough chop the raspberries into small pieces. Be careful not to over chop; you don't want a puddle of raspberry pulp. Place the chopped raspberries into a freezer safe bowl and pop back into the freezer until you're ready to add them into the dough.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter or vegan baking stick and 1 ¼ cups of the sugar until it is soft and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture, milk, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the creamed butter and sugar. It will look pale yellow and chunky.
- Slowly beat in the gluten free flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.
- Gently using a spatula, fold in the frozen chopped raspberries. The dough will become a lovely marbled pink color.
- Keep the dough in the bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour. You must not skip this step or the cookies will spread everywhere and it must be frozen, not in the fridge.
- After 1 hour, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Take the dough out of the fridge. Using an ice cream scoop, or a large cookie scoop, scoop the dough out. You should have 11 scoops.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Mix until completely combined.
- Roll each dough ball in the lemon sugar mixture to coat completely.
- Place dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-16 minutes.
- Store extra dough balls in the freezer while the rest are baking if they don't all fit. I only bake 6 at a time.
- Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them into a circle.Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't do this, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess.If adding the glaze, let the cookies cool completely before adding it, otherwise the glaze will turn into a liquid mess.
Make the Glaze (If Desired)
- In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, 1 or 2 raspberries and the 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water until combined and smooth.
- Drizzle the raspberry glaze on top of the cool cookies. If you drizzle it on warm cookies, the glaze with melt. Let the glaze harden. Sprinkle with more lemon zest if desired.
Rikki
This recipe turned out fantastic! Lee was so helpful when I had a couple questions! You won’t regret making these!
Lee
Thank you so so much!
Lama
LOVED this recipe.. but got super ambitious with the glaze and wanted to badly to turn it into a whipped frosting consistency. Totally messed that up.. any suggestions how I can accomplish this? I added softed butter to the glaze mixture which was fine.. but then I whipped cream separately and tried to combine the two for a lighter fluffier frosting and totally ended up getting just butter 😆 I'm obsessed with grocery store frosted sugar cookies so was trying to accomplish that but this this lemon raspberry twist. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Lee
Hi! Oh sorry that happened! Yes that it supposed to be a glaze not a frosting. But...I actually have a Raspberry Buttercream Frosting on the blog! Or I have a Lemon Buttercream! Click either of those for the recipes! Hope that helps!
Becky
Want to make these but want to know if I can use coconut flour instead? And how much do you suggest
Lee
Hi Becky. Sadly I cannot use coconut flour due to my son's allergies so I cannot test this. However, I was reading the coconut flour soaks up a lot of liquid so typically you would use 1/4-1/3 of a cup coconut flour instead of 1 cup multipurpose gluten free flour. You also may need to add more liquid. In addition, it supposedly pairs well with eggs so I really am unsure if this will work. Sorry I can't be of more help!
Erica
Can I use fresh raspberries or fresh strawberries instead of the frozen raspberries?
Lee
Hi Erica! Sadly it won't work. I mention in the ingredient notes section of the blog post: You must use frozen raspberries and they must be chopped into tiny pieces. Eggless cookies want to spread and if you use fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries that are not chopped, there will be too much moisture. The dough will become a slimy wet mess and will spread out into a liquid disaster when baking.But...you can freeze the raspberries yourself. Hope that helps!
Linda
How can I make these cookies crispy instead of soft?
Lee
Hi Linda! Sadly with these, they really won't become crispy due to the fact that they have so much moisture from the fruit. And if we tried to use less flour to make them crispy, sadly they would just spread into a liquidy pancake while baking. However, I really prefer to store mine in the fridge after they cool. They will still be soft in the fridge but firm...not gooey. They also have a little crispy on the outside due to the granulated sugar. Hope that helps!
Alison
These are outstanding. I subbed All Purpose flour for the gluten free flour and used one egg instead of the cornstarch mixture. I also made them smaller than the recipe for a more normal size cookie. Don't skip the glaze, it is truly delish. I did have an issue with getting them baked through. Even after they were completely cooled, they were a bit too mushy and sort of hard to pick up. A small price to pay for their tastiness.
Tara Rumpler
I baked these for an event at my husband’s office and they were amazing!! Lee’s recipes are so easy to follow and absolutely delicious!! I can’t wait to try the other recipes.
Lee
Thanks so much! SO glad!
KT
These are literally so flavorful and so easy to make! I made them for a summer picnic!
Lee
So glad! Thank you!
Pauly
These cookies are incredibly delicious! Easy to make and full of flavor from the lemon and raspberry! Can’t wait to make these again!
Lee
Thank you so so much!!!!
Julie
It’s me again. I made these last weekend. I’m about to make again today. I’m re-reading the recipe. I totally missed adding the milk last week! Looking through steps, I don’t see where the milk was added. My cookies were delicious, without milk. Curious as to where it’s added. Thanks.
Lee
Hi Julie! It's in two places! In the written blog post itself, it is in step 4. It says: Step 4: Add in the other Wet Ingredients. Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture, milk, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the creamed butter and sugar. It will look pale yellow and chunky. Also, in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post it is step 7. It says: Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture, milk, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the creamed butter and sugar. It will look pale yellow and chunky. Hope this helps! Glad they were great without it anyway!
Ellie
We are gluten free, but don’t need to be egg free (anymore!). Used one egg instead of the cornstarch slurry and they turned out great in case anyone else wants to make that substitution.
Lee
Thanks for sharing!!!
Nancy
The combination of flavors sound so amazing so I tried it! Wow my whole family just loved them. The recipe was easy to follow as well. What a great idea!
Julie
This recipe is one of the best I’ve baked, and I bake a lot. My guys couldn’t stop eating them before they were glazed. I made with all purpose flour, same amount and butter. I doubled the recipe, made them smaller than a large scoop. I had very little to almost no spreading. I have a double oven, baked 9 cookies at a time and kept batter in freezer during bakes. I’ve never tried any of your recipes but will definitely try more after this bake! So good..
Lee
So glad thank you so much!
Jaime
Oops - thank you!
Mo
These look great and I’d love to make them! Is there any issue with using regular flour instead of gluten free? I don’t keep it on hand.
Lee
I explain what to do with regular flour in the post! In this particular recipe, just make sure to use packed cups or read the gram amount. Hope that helps!
Ginny
These cookies taste as good as they look! I love the combo of colors from the berries and lemon. So good!!!
Jaime
Hi, you mentioned weighing the flour but don’t list grams in your ingredients. Do you know how much a cup of your flour of choice weighs?
Lee
Hi there!! In the recipe card there is a button that says, "metric." If you click that it switches over to grams! Hope this helps!!
Sarah
Switch the measuring from US Customary to Metric 🙂
Jen
Can I use eggs instead of the cornstarch mixture? How many should I use? How does it change the texture of the cookie? I want the cookies to be as puffy as possible, so I am thinking maybe using eggs will help.
Lee
Sadly I cannot test this recipe with eggs due to my son's severe allergy. It actually took me years to try to mimic the texture of a cookie with eggs, so I am not truly sure what adding one would do. If you wanted to try, I would use packed cups of flour, no cornstarch water mixture, one egg and only 1.5 tablespoons of milk. Hope it works out! However, you may want to read through the comments. Some people made them with an egg. Sorry I can't be of more help!
Anna
Is the cornstarch slurry supposed to be an egg replacer? I’m planning to swap that out with a flax seed egg (I am vegan not gluten free) and I just wanted to know how you were using the cornstarch slurry in this recipe. Thanks!
Lee
Hi Anna! Yes...the cornstarch slurry is used as an egg replacer. I can't use flax seed egg due to my son's allergies so sadly I cannot test it out. If you can't do cornstarch, you can also use arrowroot starch instead. Hope this helps!
John
These cookies are so good! Even better when they're refrigerated!
Whitney J.
These were easy to make and so yummy. I was afraid they wouldn’t come out as beautifully shaped as the pictures but I followed the instructions with the freezer and they came out just as beautiful. Will be making again.
Lee
So glad! Thank you so much!