Vegan lemon cookies with a deliciously tangy and fresh lemon flavor and a soft and buttery texture. Super easy recipe with perfect results.
I absolutely love all things lemon! So these vegan lemon cookies are right up my street.
There’s something about the tanginess and light and refreshing taste of lemon that just goes so well with sweet desserts (like our vegan lemon cupcakes, vegan lemon cake and vegan lemon pound cake, ooooh yes!).
And these cookies are soft and buttery with just enough lemon flavor to really pop.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Cookies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
This is a simple 8-ingredient recipe for the cookies and an even simpler 3-ingredient recipe for the glaze.
The glaze is totally optional, but recommended, it really makes that lemon flavor shine!
You start off by adding vegan butter and sugar to your stand mixer and creaming them together. Then you add lemon extract and mix it in.
Add all purpose flour, baking soda and salt to a separate bowl and mix together.
Then add the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix in until very crumbly. Add the lemon zest.
Now add the non-dairy milk and mix again.
TIP: We used soy milk but you can use any non-dairy milk.
At this point it will feel like this will never make a cookie dough, it will feel way too dry. But get in there with your hands and the next thing you know you have a nice big ball of dough.
The dough is dry, but don’t worry the cookies are definitely not!
Break off pieces of the dough and roll them into balls.
And then flatten the balls. You can flatten them with a fork, or by placing a square of parchment paper on top of the balls and then pressing down on it with the base of a glass.
I tried it both ways and the end result after baking looked identical.
Bake them at 350°F for 12 minutes.
When they come out of the oven they will be very lightly browned on top but still very soft in the middle. Let them cool on the tray and as they cool they will firm up.
The Lemon Glaze
When they’re completely cool, then drizzle on the delicious lemon glaze. It’s a simple mix of powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract.
And there you have it, delicious vegan lemon cookies with glaze!
Storing and Freezing
Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
For the Lemon Cookies:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¾ cups White Granulated Sugar (150g)
- 2 tsp Lemon Extract
- 2 cups All purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
- 2 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
For the Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar (120g)
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice scant*
- ⅛ tsp Lemon Extract
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter and white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and cream them together. Add in the lemon extract and mix in well.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to a bowl and mix together. Then add the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix in by hand (don’t use the electric mixer for this part). Mix until crumbly.
- Add in the lemon zest and mix in.
- Then add in the soy milk and mix in very well. It will seem like it is too dry to form a dough, but get in there with your hands until it does. Only add more soy milk if you absolutely have to.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Break off pieces of the big ball of dough and roll them into balls and place onto a parchment lined baking tray. Aim to get 20 balls.
- Then flatten the balls either with a fork or by placing a square of parchment paper over a ball and flattening with the base of a glass.
- Place into the oven to bake for 12 minutes.
- When they are done they will be lightly browned on top but still very soft in the middle. Allow to cool on the tray and they will firm up as they cool.
- Prepare your lemon glaze by adding the ingredients to a bowl and mixing in with a spoon.
- When the cookies are completely cool, use a teaspoon to drizzle the glaze over the cookies.
Notes
- Lemon zest. 1 Tbsp of lemon zest is roughly what you’d get from 1 small to medium lemon.
- Lemon glaze. When you’re making the glaze the tablespoons should be filled to just before the top, not all the way to the top. If you glaze your first cookie and realize that the glaze is just running off the cookie completely, then your glaze is too thin. Add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Storing. Keep your cookies stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Sahana says
The cookies turned out amazing!!
I am not a vegan so I substituted vegan ingredients with dairy products .I replaced extract with lemon juice. The cookies came out delicious.
Thank you ????
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Sahana!
Sahana says
The cookies turned out amazing!!
Thank you ????
Dimitra says
Can the lemon extract be replaced with something else? We don’t really get this in Greece – though we do have lots of lemons 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Extra lemon juice. 🙂
Dimitra says
Great! – thanks x
Lori says
This recipe saved the day! I make half lemon half strawberry cookies every Easter. It started as a way to talk about salvation with my kids when they were little. Lemon representing the bitter/sour experience of the cross and the strawberry the sweetness of the resurrection. Anyway, I would make them using a box cake mix. When I went to the store this week all the cake mixes were gone. Apparently toilet tissue isn’t the only thing people are hoarding. Everyone was bummed because they look forward to these cookies every Easter. I decided to try your recipe. For the strawberry I used strawberry extract and 3 Tblsp of chopped up fresh strawberries in place of the zest. The dough was a little sticky so I could have probably cut back on the almond milk since the strawberries were juicy but they still turned out great. I rolled them in powder sugar instead of doing the icing before flattening them. I also added some food coloring to brighten them up like the cake mix. They are delicious! Taste better than the usual way I make them. I will be making them this way from now on. Thank you for the recipe!! I would post a picture if I could.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome, thanks for sharing Lori!
Sarah says
Very buttery and the icing adds just the perfect amount of lemon. Definitely thought they’d be too dry but they turned out perfectly
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much Sarah!
Teresa says
Wow!! Absolutely exquisite and quick to make! I will definitely make them again!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Teresa! 🙂
Elena says
Super delicious. God bless you ????
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Elena!
Kylie Q says
These were so yummy and easy to make!! The glaze is phenomenal and the cookies were soft, my friends who are not vegan loved them too. 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! So happy to hear that Kylie!
Betty Sue says
Wonderful recipe! Disclaimer- I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I was asked by my hubby to make a Vegan lemon cookie for a coworker. So down the rabbit hole I went. I started searching for recipes and yours had the best reviews. Now the ingredients, what in the world is vegan butter??? Not so bad, available at most stores, mediocre reviews at best. That won’t do! Without quality ingredients the cookies won’t be as good. So I made my own “butter” using the recipe from A Virtual Vegan. The only substitute made was cashew milk for the soy. I added 1/2 the flour mixture and all the zest mixed with a mixer. Mixed the remainder flour by hand until it resembled course crumbs. Then added and worked the milk in. This process was just like making pie crust. Very tasty recipe! If I’m asked to make more, think I’ll modify this and make almond cookies. Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Betty Sue! So glad they worked out well!
Tracey James says
Made these for my sister and daughter. They loved them thank you full of flavour lovely and soft will be making them again and maybe experiment with different flavours any suggestions?
Alison Andrews says
So glad they were a success! I think other citrusy flavors would also work, like orange or lime! 🙂
Alissa says
Just made these and they are so yummy!! I used fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of lemon extract and so happy with how they turned out. Thanks for the recipe!!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Alissa! 🙂
Indiana says
Just made it! I followed the recipe by the book except I used vegan margarine instead of vegan butter. It’s great! I think I may have used too much salt because it has a very present salty aftertaste, but I don’t dislike it. Big bonus: it’s the first time I make a perfect lemon glaze, so I’ll be able to use it with other recipes! Thank you very much! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
So happy it worked out well! Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
amanda says
I have made these twice and they leave a bitter aftertaste. Is this the baking soda?
Alison Andrews says
Oh no, sorry to hear that Amanda! I don’t think it’s the baking soda at all (unless you were using too much but I’m sure you’re not), I feel like it might be to do with your lemon zest. If you grate it down too far, to the white part, called the pith, then that can cause that. You can try omit the lemon zest altogether as well and see how you go with that. All the best! 🙂
Simrit says
Hi Alison, these are very easy to make and turned out soft and buttery and the glaze is definitely a must. Many thanks again. You’re a star.
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear that, thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Nicole says
Just made these ! Doubled the recipe, used LIME for everything; extra lime zest to replace lime extract, and half the oil replaced by apple sauce. Used coconut oil instead of butter. My six and 3 year old approve! Will share with all tonight during bible study. Stoked. They’re beautiful and smell so, so good! Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂