Healthy Lemon Cookies are thick, soft, lightly golden, and made with almond flour, unrefined cane sugar and real lemons.
Reader’s Review
Light and delicious and hard to eat just one! Perfect for spring, am planning to make these again for Mother’s Day brunch.
Lynda
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You won’t believe how easy these healthy lemon cookies are! Not only that but they’re perfectly sweet with just the right amount of zesty lemon flavor. They are also gluten-free!
This lemon dessert is perfect for girls’ nights, summer backyard parties and Mother’s day brunch!
Ingredients for Healthy Lemon Cookies
- Softened butter: Bring it to room temperature ahead of time. You want it soft and not completely melted otherwise it will result in crunchier cookies. You can use coconut oil to replace it, but again, crispy cookies.
- Egg: Needed for binding the ingredients together.
- Cane sugar: Although still a type of granulated sugar, it is unrefined which is what I like. You may also use monk fruit or erythritol. Just make sure it’s dry and not liquid sweetener like maple syrup.
- Vanilla extract: A warming flavor that mellows out the citrus and makes it even yummier!
- Baking soda: When reacting with the acid in the lemon, it works to create a nice thick cookie.
- Salt: A pinch just to round out all of the flavors and enhance them for maximum taste.
- Fresh lemon zest and lemon juice: I’m always a cheerleader for fresh lemons, but you can use juice from a bottle too. Also lemon extract works in a pinch too, it’s very concentrated, so you will have to add a drop or two. Skip the lemon then entirely.
- Almond flour: Made from ground blanched almonds, making it nice and light. It’s not easily replaced, so avoid even trying!
- Powdered sugar: I use Swerve powdered erythritol which delivers the sweetness without the sugar.
- Lemon juice: You can also use water. This is a way to dial down the lemon flavor if preferred.
How to Make Healthy Lemon Cookies
- Beat butter and sugar together with an electric hand mixer. Use a stand mixer if you have one with the whisk attachment.
- To the same bowl, add egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and juice. Blend it for another minute before adding the almond flour.
- Now add almond flour and stir it with a spatula until the cookie dough starts to form. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Scoop out balls of mixture with a small cookie scoop. Place each ball on the parchment-lined baking sheets 1.5” apart, and gently press with fingers to flatten the cookie a bit. They will only spread so far.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven on the middle rack for 12 minutes on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. No need to spray them with cooking spray. Remove the trays and allow them to cool.
- In the meantime, make the lemon glaze.Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Once your lemon cookies have cooled, you can either drizzle them on top or dip each cookie in face first.
Tips for Perfect Cookies
- Don’t substitute the flour: You might try to use almond meal but I recommend to buy super fine almond flour for baking purposes. Almond meal will yield more dense cookies but it night work. I honestly haven’t tried. I definitely do not recommend to use any other gluten-free flour or wheat flour.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough: It’s just 30 minutes. If you skip it, your cookies will spread a lot.
- Bake on a middle rack: Due to high oil content almond flour burns fast. Recently I started baking all almond flour goodies higher up in the oven. I like it better this way!
- Flatten just a bit: These healthy lemon cookies don’t spread much, so they need a bit of help in the flattening department.
- Frosting: Try my healthy cream cheese frosting or healthy buttercream frosting instead of the lemon glaze.
How to Store
Store: Lemon cookies look great in a cookie jar! Keep them stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Freeze cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer-friendly airtight bag and take as many out as you need when you want them. They thaw within an hour on a counter.
More Healthy Lemon Recipes You’ll Love
- Healthy lemon bars
- Healthy lemon poppy seed bread
- Healthy lemon zucchini bread
- Healthy lemon poppy seed muffins
Healthy Lemon Cookies
Healthy Lemon Cookies are thick, soft, lightly golden, and made with almond flour, unrefined cane sugar and real lemons.
Equipment
Ingredients
For Cookies:
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon, zest of
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups almond flour
For Lemon Glaze:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, I use eryhtritol
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or water, more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 large baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugar and using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer blend until creamy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, lemon zest and juice; blend another minute. Add almond flour, stir with spatula until cookie dough forms and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Using a small scoop, scoop dough, roll into a ball, place on previously prepared baking sheet and gently press with fingers to flatten cookies a bit. Cookies spread somewhat, so leave 1.5 inch in between. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake on a middle rack for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- While cookies are cooling, make glaze by whisking powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over cookies and enjoy!
🎉 Last step! If you made this recipe, please leave a review and let us know what you think!
Notes
- Store: In a cookie jar for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: In an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter for a few hours.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 120kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 78mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Will make these with my son, he loves lemon! Have you tried making them with coconut sugar? Will update after we make them, I’m sure they are delicious!
I have not tried particularly this recipe with coconut sugar but other ones I have. Cookies will be a bit more crunchy and different color but should work. Have fun!
Is it alright to use gluten free almond flour
Hi! This recipe does use naturally gluten free almond flour.
Cooked for 14 minutes. Delicious. Will definitely make again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made these today and they were very tasty, moist and quite lovely 🙂
I agree with one of the other comments about 12 minutes being to soft. I put them back for another few minutes and they were perfect texture soft but a touch of chewiness.
Will make these again.
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Yes all ovens cook a bit differently, glad you found the sweet spot and enjoy them!
Can I use coconut flour?
No, you can only use almond flour in this recipe.
Not healthy in my book using regular cane sugar.
Healthy means something a little different to everyone. Enjoy looking through the site, you may enjoy these sugar free oatmeal cookies!
I made these, only 12 minutes wasn’t enough baking time. They were way too “raw”. But they were SO good everyone ate them. I tried one without the lemon frosting, meh. I doubled the frosting batch and really topped them, and they were DELICIOUS! The last four were hidden in the fridge, and my hubby was thrilled when he found them! Great cookie!!
So glad you enjoyed them Carol and too funny on the ‘hidden cookies’!
Light and delicious and hard to eat just one! Perfect for spring, am planning to make these again for Mother’s Day brunch.
So glad you enjoyed them and yes, everyone will love them at brunch!