These Lemon Sugar Cookies are soft and fluffy sugary clouds that are sweet with a mild tang. This eggless sugar cookie is made with lemon zest and lemon juice in the cookie dough and then the dough balls are rolled into lemon sugar prior to baking. The end result is nothing short of magical! Best yet, they're also gluten free, nut free and can easily be vegan!
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.
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.
Keep the dough in the bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2.5 hours. You must not skip this step or the cookies will spread everywhere.
After 2.5 hours, 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, 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 13-15 minutes. Store extra dough balls in the fridge 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. If they appear a bit puffed up, very gently push them down using the back of the spatula.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.
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Notes
For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 11-13 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches.Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks and a non dairy milk.All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 packed cups of regular flour (336 grams). Still chill the dough. Storing: Keep extra cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freezing: Wrap dough in a disc in plastic wrap and then pop it in a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 30 days. Thaw dough in the fridge the night prior to using. Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.