These lemon shortbread cookies are tender, buttery, and filled with bright lemon flavor. They're easy to make in one bowl with 7 simple ingredients!
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These lemon shortbread cookies have a buttery, zesty lemon flavor and delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture. Just like my classic shortbread cookies, they have a simple dough made from flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Fresh lemon juice and zest give them a lovely citrusy pop.
I love how easy this recipe is. These lemon shortbread cookies come together in one bowl, and most of the time, chilling the dough isn’t necessary.
If you like, you can make a quick lemon glaze to give the cookies an extra burst of lemon flavor, but they’re also perfect plain—tender, bright, and lightly sweet. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Lemon Shortbread Cookies Ingredients
When I was testing this recipe, I made a ton of lemon shortbread cookies. I tried vegan and gluten-free shortbread cookie recipes with different oils and flours, all sorts of things. During the process, I was stressing out. Some cookies were dry, some were burned, and some flattened out like pancakes (not the good kind). I’m just lucky that Jack, being the kind taste tester that he is, made sure not a crumb went to waste.
So what did I end up with? A straightforward, delightful lemon shortbread cookie recipe. Here’s what’s in it:
- All-purpose flour – Sometimes complicated problems demand simple solutions. I tried all sorts of flours in this recipe, but good old all-purpose yielded the best results every time. Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Butter – It gives these lemon shortbread cookies a delicious buttery flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Sugar – For sweetness. I typically use natural cane sugar, but regular granulated sugar works well too.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest – They fill these cookies with bright lemon flavor. I especially love these cookies with Meyer lemon juice and zest, which add a sweeter, almost floral note to the dough.
- Fresh thyme – My twist. 🙂 I adore the combination of lemon and thyme in these cookies. It’s so surprising and refreshing. I think you’re going to love it too, but you can also skip the thyme if you prefer a classic lemon shortbread.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Lemon Shortbread Cookies
The recipe is simple and straightforward. Here’s how it goes:
First, make the dough. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, followed by the fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme. Mix again. Then, add the dry ingredients—the flour and salt—and mix until just combined.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and flatten it into a 1″ disk. If it’s sticky, wrap it up and chill it for 15 to 30 minutes, or until it’s firm, but still pliable.
Next, roll out the dough and cut out the cookies. My favorite part! Aim for the dough to be about 1/4″ thick. Then, use cookie cutters to cut out any shapes you like. Like in my cut-out Christmas sugar cookie recipe, I recommend starting at the edges of the dough and working inwards, puzzling together the cutters to cut out as many cookies as you can. Transfer the cut-outs to parchment-lined baking sheets, and re-roll the scraps to make more cookies.
Then, bake! Transfer the cookies to a 350°F preheated oven, and bake until the edges are starting to turn light brown. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Soften the butter at room temperature. Creaming the butter gives these cookies a perfect light texture, and it makes it possible to roll out the dough to make cut-outs. In order to cream the butter, it needs to be soft, but not melted. To soften your butter, you’ll need to plan ahead. Remove it from the fridge, set it on the counter, and let it sit for an hour while it comes to room temperature. I don’t recommend softening it in the microwave—it’s easy to accidentally go too far and partially melt it in the process.
- Bake one sheet at a time. Temperatures vary throughout an oven, so baking one sheet at a time is the best way to ensure that your cookies bake evenly. You don’t want ones on the bottom rack to burn before the top rack starts to brown! Pop any cut-outs that don’t make it onto the first sheet in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them.
- Add a lemon glaze, if you like. To give these cookies an extra pop of citrus flavor, top them with my quick lemon glaze once they cool. It’s easy to make with 2 ingredients—lemon juice and powdered sugar. You could even sprinkle a little extra lemon zest on top.
- Use a different citrus. I love the lemon flavor in these shortbread cookies, but they work just as nicely with other citrus too! Try using orange zest and juice (see these orange shortbread cookies) or lime zest and juice instead.
How to Store Lemon Shortbread Cookies
The lemon shortbread cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
They also freeze well. Allow them to cool completely, then seal them in an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. They thaw in around 30 minutes at room temp!
More Cookie Recipes to Try
If you love these lemon shortbread cookies, try one of these cookies next:
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- Zest of 1 medium lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (optional)
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Next, add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme, if using, and mix again. Finally, add the flour and salt and mix until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and flatten into a 1” disk. If the dough is sticky, wrap and chill for 15 to 30 minutes until firm but still pliable.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until about ¼“ thick. If desired, you can roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Use 2” cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Keep any extra cut-out cookies in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Super easy recipe!! Made for the December 2024 Cooking Club Challenge. Very nice lemon flavor and has that floury shortbread taste. I will definitely enjoy with some tea!
The dough came out perfectl but they tasted dry and floury.
First I want to start by saying THANK YOU for being brave enough to share your recipe online to be judged by the world.. second thank you to the person who mentioned the crumble look of the dough saved me from adding more liquid smh. But they turned our beautiful a bit tricky to cut and get off the board but I figured it out…again thank you
This is such an easy recipe, even for someone like me who is afraid to make any type of dough!!
I followed exactly the recipe, and the smell was delicious, and the taste! I think I converted my partner into a lemon and thyme cookie eater!
I chilled the dough for 10 minutes before cutting (also, for anyone worried why their dough looks like breadcrumbs after mixing, don’t worry, just use your hands to bring it all together!)
Thank you for the bread crumbs comment saved me big time
These did not work out for me. The dough was very sticky and wet, so I added flour a little at a time to be able to form it into a disc to refrigerate. Had to add a lot, it was strange. Refrigerated for 30 min, was a good texture to roll, rolled about a third of it out between parchment, and in the time it took to cut 3 cookies, it had softened too much to be able to spatula them up. I assumed I had made a mistake but double-checked my measurements and it was fine. Butter was softened not melted. I salvaged them by only pulling out enough dough for one cookie at a time from the fridge, and then putting scraps in freezer, waiting for it to harden enough and then rolling out one more. No idea what I did wrong, esp with others saying it worked for them. Temp in my house was 75. Side note, would have to double, it only made enough for 20 2″ very thin cookies even with all that extra flour, so probably 12ish if they were 1/4″ thick. the flavor of the cookie was very good, lemony and buttery. I think they’d be better at the recommended 1/4″ but I couldn’t get the dough to hold long enough.
Hi Julie, I’m sorry, these work for us every time, it could be the summer humidity.
I agree. They did not work for me either. Nowhere near enough four I double flour and then they worked out
I am going to make these tomorrow. The problem is not everyone is American that read these recipes online and we have to search for the weights in European measurements and oven temperatures etc. Would be great to see in both! Will comment again after I’ve made these delicious looking shortbreads.
These are great! I’ve made them twice in one week already. I used 1 tsp dried lavender since I don’t have thyme right now, but I’ll definitely try thyme once I’ve got it. Lovely flavor and texture. We like how they taste 1 or 2 days after baking. And a simple lemon glaze never hurt anyone 😉
This is one of the best cookie recipes! I always recueve compliments. The thyme adds something interesting visually and in flavor.
This recipe doesn’t make 30 , more like 10-15. I’d suggest to Double the recipe folks.
Hi! I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one. Have you tried making the dough for these cookies ahead of time and freezing it? Do you think that will work?
I’d be interested in the answer to this too, Meg. Personally I don’t see that they wouldn’t freeze.
Hi Nell, these freeze really well!
I love this recipe! I will admit to substituting whole grain flour and coconut sugar, but it still came out beautifully. The lemon and the thyme are just wonderful.
Hi Susanna, I’m so glad you loved them!
This recipe came out so good! I made the mistake of melting my butter so going to let it sit at room temp for a couple of hours next time and probably double it up. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Just made these and I wish I doubled the recipe. One thing I’m having to do was put it in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes. Not sure why but I did a test bake and it spread a little after having it in the fridge for 30 mins. Really awesome recipe can’t wait to bake the whole batch.
I am mesmerized by your art- from recipe creation, the the journaling your story (in shorter order) to make it come to life. Even photo & video production. You are gifted and a gift.
Thank you!
Made these this morning, doubled the recipe thank you, they are delicious
Hi Jenn, I’m so glad you loved them!
Made these and they were fabulous. Can I freeze dough so it is on hand for easy baking?
Hi Jackie, we haven’t tried freezing the dough, but freezing the final baked cookies works great.
These are in the oven! I was wondering if you could include weight measurements. My dough was super dry and tough to get it to stick together which probably would have been prevented had I weighed at least the flour 🙂
Hello!
does it matter if the butter is salted or not? If I use salted butter should I omit the sea salt?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa, you could use salted butter and omit the sea salt. Hope you enjoy!
Dis you have any success with making these dairy free?
Hi Laura, we haven’t tested a vegan version of this recipe, but Earth Balance buttery sticks or another vegan butter might work here. In that case, I would omit the salt because the butter will already be salted.
Can the dough be simply pressed into a pan & baked instead of cut out?
Hi Monica, I think that would work, but without testing it, I’m not sure what the timing would be.