Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these lemon poppy seed cookies are a delicious and simple recipe. They’re perfectly sweet with just the right amount of tang and finished off with a simple lemon drizzle.

These lemon poppy seed cookies are everything cookies should be. Soft baked, melt in your mouth, lemony, sweet, tangy, fluffy, arguably the best cookies I’ve ever had.

When it comes time for dessert, I almost always reach for something vanilla, strawberry or lemon flavor. While I love my chocolate chip cookies, I’ll almost always choose vanilla or lemon over chocolate.

That may seem crazy to some of you, but as soon as you try this recipe, I think you’ll understand! If you love this recipe, try my lemon raspberry cookies next!

How to make lemon poppy seed cookies

In a medium bowl, add the softened butter and sugar. If the butter was previously in the fridge, add to the microwave for about 20 seconds to soften before adding the sugar to the bowl.

You want the butter to be soft to the touch but not melted. If you have time, you can also just let the butter come to room temperature for about 30 minutes.

An odd trick but you can also put it behind your pants or in your bra if you’re worried about it getting too soft in the microwave!

Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. You want it to be nice and fluffy so beat for a good 30 seconds before adding any other ingredients.

Add in the egg, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. I suggest zesting two lemons first and then using one for the juice. Beat together until creamy. 

Add in the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Be sure to measure the flour using the spoon and level method, do not measure straight from the bag.

Beat just until a dough forms. Careful not to over mix, once you don’t see any flour clumps, stop beating. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold in the poppy seeds until evenly incorporated. 

Use a medium cookie scoop and to drop the dough in even circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes. 11 minutes is perfect in my oven, but all ovens are different. You want the bottoms/edges to be very slightly golden brown, but the center should be very soft and almost appear a bit raw in the cracks when you remove from the oven. 

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. The cookies will still be a bit delicate, so use a spatula to transfer them over.

Once completely cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until creamy. Drizzle over the cookies and sprinkle with extra poppy seeds if desired. 

Tips for a soft & fluffy texture

There are a few essential things you want to keep in mind to ensure your cookies are not only chewy, but actually soft and fluffy.

First, measure properly! One error I see a lot is inaccurately measured flour which causes cookies to get dry and overall unpleasant to eat. You want to spoon and level to measure, don’t scoop from the bag!

Also, you want to also measure the butter properly since this is is the key ingredients for the softness. You need 1 stick, so this is easy to do!

Second, remove the cookies from the oven before they actually look fully done. It’s really easy to over bake cookies, which will make them crunchy and definitely not fluffy and soft!

So, with this recipe, you want the edges to be slightly golden brown and the center very soft. They will continue to cook as they cool, so avoid the temptation to leave in the oven longer than 12 minutes!

How to store and freeze

Once prepared, these lemon poppy seed cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature. Allow them to cool completely, then store in an air tight container for best results.

You can also freeze these once baked! Again, let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and store for up to 2 months. Reheat in the oven at 300 until warm through the center.

Tips for the best lemon flavor

You want to use fresh lemon juice and zest for this recipe. Not lemon extract or the lemon juice from the carton. The combination of juice + zest adds the best flavor! You can use a bit of extra lemon extract if you want even more flavor, but it’s totally not necessary.

But you definitely do not want to skimp on the lemon zest! I use one full tablespoon, sometimes more, to really get the most flavor. This will be about 2 full lemons, depending on size.

The extra lemon glaze is optional, but I highly recommend it for the flavor it adds!

Try these cookies next!

• Vegan Chocolate Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Cookies
• Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. As always, tag me on instagram if you make this recipe so I can see your creation!

5 from 8 votes

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

by: claire cary

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these lemon poppy seed cookies are a delicious and simple recipe. They’re perfectly sweet with just the right amount of tang and finished off with a simple lemon drizzle.

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Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 12 mins

Total: 22 mins

12

1x2x3x

Ingredients

Cookies

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted dairy free butter 1 stick
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 tbsp lemon juice about 1 lemon
• ▢ 1 full tbsp lemon zest about 2 lemons
• ▢ 1 ¾ cup + 2 tbsp gluten free all purpose flour spoon & level to measure
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ ½ tsp baking soda
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• ▢ optional: 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Lemon Glaze

• ▢ ½ cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp lemon juice

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• In a medium bowl, add the softened butter and sugar. If the butter was previously in the fridge, add to the microwave for about 20 seconds to soften before adding the sugar to the bowl. You want the butter to be soft to the touch but not melted. 
• Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
• Add in the egg, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. I suggest zesting two lemons first and then using one for the juice.
• Beat together until well combined. 
• Add in the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Be sure to measure the flour using the spoon and level method, do not measure straight from the bag.
• Beat just until a dough forms. 
• Use a wooden spoon to fold in the poppy seeds until evenly incorporated. 
• Use a medium cookie scoop to drop the dough in even circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave as is and don’t flatten to ensure the cookies are fluffy.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. 11 minutes is perfect in my oven, but all ovens are different. You want the bottoms/edges to be very slightly golden brown, but the center should be very soft and almost appear a bit raw in the cracks when you remove from the oven. Careful not to over bake as they will dry out easily!
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 
• Once completely cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until creamy. If it's too thin, add a bit more sugar, too thick and add more lemon juice. Drizzle over the cookies and sprinkle with extra poppy seeds if desired. 

Notes

If you want the cookies to be thick and fluffy as pictured, I do not recommend flattening the dough before baking. Just let it drop right from the cookie scoop and leave as is!

These cookies will spread a bit while baking, so you want to leave plenty of room between each cookie. I usually just put 6 on one baking sheet at a time. 

Do not skimp on the lemon zest! I use one full tablespoon, sometimes more, to really get the most flavor. This will be about 2 full lemons, depending on size.

I used the Bob’s Red Mill GF all purpose flour in the blue bag. You can try other GF all purpose flours (or just use regular AP flour) but make sure it has xanthan gum. If you are not GF, just sub for regular AP flour, it works both ways!

Serving: 1cookie / Calories: 190kcal / Carbohydrates: 26.1g / Protein: 2.6g / Fat: 8.6g / Fiber: 0.7g / Sugar: 11.4g

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