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As winter fades into spring, I find myself craving lemon-flavored desserts—like these vegan lemon sugar cookies! Bursting with bright citrus flavor, they’re incredibly easy to make, completely dairy-free and eggless, and ready in just 20 minutes.
Why You’ll Love These Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies
Here are a few reasons we love these cookies and you will too:
Emily’s Recipe Notes:
- Vibrant & zesty lemon flavor: Just like my vegan lemon loaf recipe, these cookies use lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract for the BEST lemon flavor.
- Soft, just baked center, with crispy edges: These cookies are just-baked for a soft yet crispy texture.
- Only 1 bowl needed: Mix up the wet ingredients and dry ingredients in the same bowl.
- No chill time: Whip this easy recipe up in under 20 minutes!
Why We Love These Vegan Lemon Cookies: If you’re vegan or if you have egg allergies, look no further, because this is the easiest lemon sugar cookie recipe for you. This recipe uses ground flaxseed to replace eggs and to help create a soft cookie with chewy edges. This recipe doesn’t require you to make ‘flax eggs’ in advance…just add the ground flaxseed directly to the wet ingredients.
It’s super simple and great for small batches (because you don’t need to divide an egg in half), but can easily be doubled or tripled.
The Ingredients
Today, we’re using simple ingredients to make the best vegan lemon sugar cookies. You’ll need to gather the following to make them:
- White Granulated Sugar
- Dairy Free Butter, I’m using Country Crock Plant Butter
- Lemon Zest & Juice
- Lemon Extract
- Ground Flaxseed
- Pure Vanilla Extract or Paste
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
Egg Substitute:
This vegan cookie recipe uses flaxseed to substitute whole eggs. The flaxseed helps create a softer texture. I have a helpful guide on vegan egg substitutes if you’d like to learn more.
The Best Vegan Butter:
I’ve tested this exact recipe with Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks. I’ve also used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks in many cookie recipes, and it works wonderfully. You can learn more about which vegan butter brands are the best for baking here!
Feel free to try out your favorite vegan butter in this recipe.
Helpful Equipment
- Parchment paper: I like using white parchment because the cookies don’t brown as fast or spread as much (versus cooking them directly on the pan or using brown parchment paper).
- Baking Tray
- Measuring Cup or Scale: to accurately measure all of the ingredients
- Wire Cooling Rack: for cooling the cookies
- Cookie Scoop or Ice Cream Scoop: this is optional, but does help create equal-sized cookies
Step By Step Guide
*Video Tutorial is Above the Recipe Card Below!*
In a large bowl, cream the melted butter and sugar together.
Then, add the flaxseed, vanilla, lemon extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) on top and sift them together with a fork. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix it in with the butter mixture.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop 12 balls of cookie dough (about 2 tbsp each) on the baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) between each dough ball.
Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar and extra lemon zest.
Then, bake at 350F (175C) for 9-10 minutes. If you’d like to air fry these cookies, follow the instructions in this post.
Serving the Cookies
These cookies are delicious on their own straight out of the oven. If you’d like, you can also top them with a tangy lemon glaze or drizzle.
Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar to make the glaze. Once the cookies are completely cool, you can drizzle the glaze on top.
Storage
These lemon cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
They’ll stay soft at room temperature, but after that, I recommend transferring them to a freezer proof baggie and freezing them for 2-3 months.
- To reheat the cookies: place them in the microwave for about 10 seconds on high power. This will soften the cookies again. I highly recommend this for second or third day cookies!
Helpful Tips For Amazing Vegan Sugar Cookies
- The butter should be just melted and should not be hot: we don’t want to melt the sugar.
- Leave the cookie dough in the oven until just baked: 9-10 minutes for large cookies should be just enough time. The tops of the cookies should still look somewhat doughy.
- Tap the baking tray on the counter after baking: this helps deflate the cookies and creates chewier edges.
- Adjust baking time according to the size of cookie: small cookies bake faster, larger cookies will need a few more minutes. Keep an eye on the cookies as they bake.
these create the best flavor & texture!
FAQ
Below are some tips, tricks, and faqs to help you make the best vegan lemon cookies!
The cookies should spread a bit in the oven. The edges should be baked completely and the center should no longer appear glossy or wet after about 9-10 minutes. They should look a bit puffy in the oven, but will deflate when removed. The cookies will continue to bake for a few minutes after you remove them from the oven which is why letting them cool for about 3 minutes on the baking sheet is important.
The cookie dough should be very soft but it should be able to be scooped into balls. This dough doesn’t need to be chilled. The soft nature of the cookie dough helps the cookies spread while baking, making them chewy u0026 soft, not cakey.
I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, so I can’t guarantee how they will turn out. However, if making gluten-free lemon cookies, I recommend using a 1:1 gluten-free flour mix like Bob’s Red Mill versus single flour substitutes like oat flour. If you do try, I’d love to know how they turned out!
I don’t recommend substituting the white cane sugar for a liquid substitute. I also don’t recommend using brown sugar or coconut sugar since it has a caramel taste and may make the cookies spread more than intended.
More Vegan Cookies
- Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies
- Coffee Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
- Stuffed Biscoff Butter Lava Cookies
- Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Video Tutorial
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Chewy Vegan Lemon Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ½ cup melted vegan butter, 115g – like Country Crock Plant Butter
- 1 cup granulated cane sugar, 200g
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract, 8g
- 1 ½ tsp lemon extract, 5g
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, 14g
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 200g – spooned into a measuring cup from the bag & leveled off (see notes for more tips on measuring flour)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
Lemon sugar:
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp coarse sugar
Lemon Drizzle (optional):
- ½-1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup powdered sugar, or icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and prep the baking sheet with white parchment paper (see notes for more tips).
- In a mixing bowl, cream the melted butter and sugar together. Then, add the flaxseed, vanilla, lemon extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.½ cup melted vegan butter, 1 cup granulated cane sugar, 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract, 1 ½ tsp lemon extract, 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, 2 tbsp lemon zest, 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) on top and sift them together with a fork. Then mix in with the butter mixture.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp sea salt
- The dough should be fairly moist and scoop-able. If it looks very crumbly add 1-2 tsp of water or dairy-free milk to help moisten the dough. Using a cookie scoop, scoop 12 balls of cookie dough (about 2 tbsp each) on the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches (5 cm) between each dough ball. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar and lemon zest.1 tbsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp coarse sugar
- Bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes. The cookies should look just baked with firm, wrinkled edges and a soft rounded center.Optional: Tap the baking tray on the counter 2-3 times to deflate the cookies. This helps create a chewier edge and a crackled top.
- Leave the baked cookies on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes. They'll finish cooking while on the sheet.
- Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.Optional: mix the lemon icing ingredients together and drizzle on the cooled cookies.
Video
Recipe notes
- Accurately measuring the flour is critical to this recipe. Even 1-2 tbsp extra flour will result in thicker, puffier cookies.
- It’s important to use either a scale or the spoon and level method for measuring flour. For reference, 1 cup scooped directly from the bag (not spoon and leveled) is 140-150g. Whereas 1 cup using the spoon and level method is approximately 120-130g. To make these cookies, we need 200g of flour.
- Parchment paper: I like using white parchment or a white enamel baking tray because the cookies don’t brown as fast or spread as much (versus cooking them directly on a dark metal pan or using brown parchment paper).
- For an extra chewy and crispy cookie: Bake these cookies at 350F for 11-12 minutes. This will caramelize the sugar, resulting in a crispier cookie.
- Tap the baking tray after baking: this helps deflate the cookies and creates chewier edges.
- Don’t flatten the dough balls or chill the dough: flattening the dough will cause the cookies to spread too much, and chilling the dough will cause the dough to not spread enough.
- Double or triple this recipe for a larger batch!
Did You Make This?
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Allergic to flax seeds. What’s can I use instead?
Hi there, I’ve only tested this exact recipe with flaxseed. However, in other similar recipes I’ve been able to substitute 1 tbsp of Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer (mixed in with the dry ingredients), or 2 tbsp of chia seeds. I also have an entire post on the best vegan egg substitutes if you’d like more info!
Would I need to make a chia seed egg (chia seeds + water) or should I just put the chia seeds as is straight in with the lemon juice, vanilla extract, etc?
Hi, I haven’t tested this exact recipe with chia seeds. I suspect that making a chia seed egg will add too much liquid to the cookie dough. For the best results I recommend using ground flaxseed if you’re able!
Great cookies! This recipe was so easy, & i loved it was one bowl & ready to go! I didn’t do the course sugar on top. I just did the conf. sugar & lemon juice & it really set the cookies over the top as far as i was concerned. Definitely will make again!