Lemon Cookies with an easy to ice Lemon Icing and fun sprinkles will make these look like they are ready for a party even if you’re just going to enjoy them yourself!
What is it about lemon cookies that makes them so irresistible?
I don’t know, but I keep baking up batches trying to find out.
These Lemon Italian Cookies are not to overly sweet, but topped with a lemon glaze icing that dries silky smooth and of course I just had to top some with sprinkles.
I just LOVE colored jimmies, or sprinkles or what ever you call them. I just call them pretty!
I just love all those pretty colors stuck on top of these cookies.
There are many ways to ice cookies. I show you how to do one here. Today I brushed the glaze icing on with a silicone brush and let the excess drip down the sides, kind of like donuts.
Placing a cooling rack in a baking sheet will help keep all the messy drips in one place as well as the sprinkles. Easy clean up is a plus.
Having the icing drip down the sides was a more rustic look than the perfectly piped edges I usually try for. But some days it’s all about getting some delicious treats finished quickly and easily. Believe me these looked impressive all stacked up.
I love the pretty yellow color on these, but of course they would be equally delicious in any color you’d prefer. If you don’t add coloring to the glaze icing it will have a slightly white, slightly transparent look. Like glazed donuts.
Glaze icing dries smooth and pretty, give the icing plenty of time to dry before stacking or packaging the cookies.
If you want to add sprinkles to the cookies, place sprinkles in a shallow dish and dip the iced cookies into the sprinkles then let them dry. Brush on the icing and dip them right into the sprinkles before the icing sets up or the sprinkles won’t stick very well.
Of course adding sprinkles is really fun too.
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 3 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon lemon baking emulsion or lemon extract
- Mix melted cooled butter with eggs in small bowl.
- In a medium bowl mix flour, sugar and baking powder.
- Stir egg mixture into flour mixture and add flavors.
- Mix completely.
- Let dough sit for 5 minutes, roll out 1/4 of the dough on a lightly floured surface or between wax paper sheets.
- Dough should be shiny and smooth, if it's too floppy add a little flour at a time until it's consistency is workable and cuts nice and smooth with cookie cutter.
- Cut out desired shapes.
- Bake cookies on a lined parchment cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes (depending on thickness) or until they are firm and bottom is almost golden.
- I rolled these cookies 1/2 inch thick.
- 2 cup powdered sugar
- 4-8 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons lemon baking emulsion or lemon extract
- 1 drip egg yellow color
- mix powdered sugar with 4 tablespoons water and corn syrup along with lemon flavor and color.
- Add more water as needed so the icing is thin enough to spread over cookies but thick enough to be able to leave a nice thickness on the top of the cookie without it all running off.
- I spread the icing over these cookies with a silicone brush and allowed it to drip down the sides.
- If you like sprinkles on your cookies dip the freshly iced cookies into a dish of sprinkles so they will stick and dry on the cookies at the icing dries.
LOTS of info on baking cookies here:
- cookie tips guide
- how to bake perfect cookies
- Easy Cut Out Cookies
- Cookie Dough Recipe that holds it’s shape
- Soft Sugar Cookies and Frosting
- How to ice cookies with a piping bag
- Brush on glaze icing
- resources, recipes, items, and instructions for baking perfect cookies
- royal icing recipe
If you like this or any other recipe at 
Shawn @ IWYD says
Diane, I love all your lemon recipes!! These cookies are stunning and I can practically taste them. Gorgeous!
Karenb says
I LOVE lemon cookies, cake, pie, anything lemon and sweet!!! Recently I substituted Boyajian Pure Lemon Oil for the lemon extract in a glaze for a bundt cake. OMG the glaze was INCREDIBLE!!!! The lemon flavor surpassed ANY lemon emulsion, extract, or fresh lemon juice I ever used before!!
I haven’t had a chance to try it yet in cookies but this product has great reviews and is supposed to hold its flavor in baked goods. I think I’ll try this oil in your cookie recipe and glaze. I’ll let you know how it turned out.
It may be a little pricey. I think I paid $6.00 for a 1 ounce bottle at Sur la Table. But, it is very concentrated and a little goes a long way. I used a dropper to add it to my glaze.
I was so impressed with the Lemon Oil, that I purchased the orange and lime oils to try.
Diane says
I haven’t tried that brand, but I have tried other lemon oils and lime and a about 20 others they are great in the baked portion, be careful on the icing part as it can effect how the icing sets up. Other flavors are not oil based and dry nicely, oil is sometimes chancy.
Medeja says
I like treats with lemon flavor. These cookies should definitely go on my list 🙂
Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction says
Diane,
I love most Italian sweets. This is one I will definitely try. Pinned.
Annamaria
Jen says
Ooooh yum!! I’m having a baking day on Sunday with a whole gang of 8 year olds – I think they might like these!
Dora says
Hi Diane, I have been recently trying to find a good cut out sugar cookie recipe that holds its shape but tastes good, most I have found taste chalky and not very pleasant. Your recipe seems a little different in that the butter is melted and you use more eggs, is this your “go to” recipe for cut outs? Thanks for any help! Dora
Diane says
Hi Dora, this is one of my go-to recipes. I LOVE lemon and these cookies are different, they remind me of the Italian Bakery Cookies I would enjoy as a kid. They are not overly sweet like typical sugar cookies, they hold their shape when baked. I also have a more typical sugar cookie recipe, but that is made with powdered sugar and is more tender in taste and texture as well. (either cookie can be made lemon or vanilla or whatever your favorite flavor is… coconut, almond etc.) https://www.createdby-diane.com/2011/07/sugar-cookie-recipe.html HERE are a few posts you may want to check out on cookies https://www.createdby-diane.com/2013/11/italian-cut-out-cookies.html
you can adjust the sugar a bit on each recipe according to your liking, I do not like my cookies overly sweet, I always end up icing them and that is where the sweetness comes in for me. Hope that’s helpful 🙂
Dora says
How sweet you are! Thank you so much, I especially can’t wait to try your Italian cut out cookies! Happy New Year, take care…Dora
LuAnne says
I just made a batch of these cookies, and I really like their lemony goodness. Easy to make, roll, bake, and decorate. I didn’t have corn syrup on hand, so I used honey instead and it worked well. I like that I didn’t have to wait and refrigerate the dough before rolling. I think I’m going to try other extracts in this recipe besides lemon ; maybe almond would work. I’m bringing them to a church meeting tonight as a treat.
Diane says
I’m happy you liked them, and yes you can use any extract you prefer. I often make them with vanilla, and yes almond would be great too.
Betty says
Hi
I tried making the cookies. The dough was too dry to hold together. I used lemon rind and juice and had to add cream to get the dough to hold together. The cookies taste good. I made lemon glaze with real lemon juice replacing the water and added zest of a lemon. Yummy. I made the icing green for Saint Patrick’s Day treats! Shamrock shaped.