These lemon lavender cookies are light, buttery, and filled with lots of fresh lemon and lavender flavor! Topped with a tangy lemon glaze, they're the most lovely spring cookies!
On their own, these cookies are very light and just subtly sweet. But with the glaze they're much sweeter with a slight tang from the lemon juice! I like to glaze half and leave half plain for the best of both worlds!
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Why You'll Love These Cookies!
- Super easy to make!
- The perfect cookies for Mother's Day, a bridal shower, or a tea party!
- Delish with or without the glaze!
You might also like these lemon curd thumbprint cookies or these lavender macarons!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these lemon lavender cutout cookies!
Almond Flour - I like substituting a portion of the all purpose flour with almond flour in all my cookies! It yields a more tender cookie with just that slight almond flavor. But you can leave it out if desired!
Lemon Juice & Zest - I highly recommend using fresh lemons for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lemon juice if necessary.
Lavender - I prefer to use dried lavender flowers in the cookies for flavor and texture! Just always make sure it specifies "culinary grade" on the packaging! This ensures that the product is processed properly and intended for human consumption. I typically buy this brand on amazon! But you could also substitute 1 teaspoon of lavender extract instead.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Cutout Cookies
Add the softened butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix until fully incorporated.
Add in the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined. The dough should come together into a ball but will feel dry. If the dough doesn't come together, you can add a teaspoon of milk or water at a time until it does.
Then gently fold in the dried lavender flowers.
Press the dough into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours minimum but ideally overnight).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ¼ inch thick and cut into circles. Re-roll and cutout the scraps.
[I used the 2 ⅝ inch ruffled cookie cutter from this set, but you can use whatever shape cookie cutters you want!]
Place cutout lemon lavender cookies 1-2 inches apart on your baking sheet (they won’t spread). Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes (or the fridge for 40 minutes) before baking to allow the cookies to firm back up. This ensures the cookies won't spread during baking.
While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are set. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results. It usually takes 2-3 batches to bake all the cookies.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before glazing.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl, until smooth. Then stir in the lemon zest and lavender flowers if desired.
Dip the tops of the cooled lemon lavender cookies in the glaze and place back on the cooling rack. After about 20 minutes the glaze will harden.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Cookies
Make sure your oven is the proper temperature!! Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is exactly 350°F. If the oven is too cold, the cookies will spread too much and if it's too hot the centers won't bake all the way through. For example, my oven is about 20 degrees off. So I have to set the oven to 370°F in order to get it to bake at 350°F.
Use a lightweight, light colored baking sheet for best results! Believe it or not, a lighter pan makes the cookies bake more slowly than a dark pan, which helps keep them from spreading too much. My favorite pans for baking cookies are:
You also want to use either parchment paper or silicone mats on your cookie sheet to help keep the cookies from spreading.
Bake your lemon lavender cookies one sheet at a time, on the center rack. This will ensure all your cookies cook evenly and the bottoms don't burn. Then let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches. This ensures the cookies cool evenly and don't spread too much by being put on a hot pan.
Recipe FAQ's
Chilling the cookie dough allows the flour to hydrate a bit and ensures the butter is super cold. This keeps your cookies from spreading too much and completely flattening out.
You can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Lemon Lavender Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour, substitute all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers, optional
Instructions
- Add the softened butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add in the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined. The dough should come together into a ball but will feel dry. If the dough doesn't come together, you can add a teaspoon of milk or water at a time until it does.
- Then gently fold in the dried lavender flowers.
- Press the dough into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours minimum but ideally overnight).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ¼ inch thick and cut into circles. Re-roll and cutout the scraps.
- Place cutout cookies 1-2 inches apart on your baking sheet (they won’t spread). Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes (or the fridge for 40 minutes) before baking to allow the cookies to firm back up. This ensures the cookies won't spread during baking.
- While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are set. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results. It usually takes 2-3 batches to bake all the cookies.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl, until smooth. Then stir in the lemon zest and lavender flowers if desired.
- Dip the tops of the cooled cookies in the glaze and place back on the cooling rack. After about 20 minutes the glaze will harden.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Lanyland says
The cookies were not difficult to make and the icing adds a delicious citrusy finish.
Dawne McCluskey says
I tried them out. ahead of time for Easter to make sure that the kids would like them. The cookies were consumed within 15 minutes of coming out of the oven! I will be making these for Easter🐰
Julia says
The cookies taste great. They’re not too sweet, lemon amount is perfect, and the lavender isn’t overpowering. All my friends and family have loved them. I’d even add more lavender for the flavor except if you add too much the lavender pieces get annoying due to their texture.
However, I’ve made these cookies three times already, and I keep having the issue of the dough not sticking into a ball in the mixer like the instructions say it should. Milk and water are of no help. I’ve been following the recipe exactly and have been using the metric weighed measurements but no luck. Any suggestions or theories??
Kyleigh Sage says
Since these are more of a dry dough, this can happened depending on your mixer (some just aren't good at bringing dry doughs together and make a bunch of crumbs - I have 2 different ones, one works great the other doesn't). If it won't come together, try kneading it together by hand and it should come together in a ball! If it doesn't come together when you do it by hand then you may need to add a little extra moisture (1-2 tbsp of milk or water).
Julia (same as before) says
Hey, just coming here two years later to say that I always use this recipe when I want to bake cookies for my friends or I need to bring something to a party. Everyone loves them! However, after making these cookies probably over a dozen times now, I have never been able to make the dough stick together, not a single time lmao. I follow the instructions perfectly, have tried various fixes, and have still never made it work. They still come out great, but it’s annoying. I can’t knead the dough, until after it’s chilled overnight. I’ve never had a problem with it being crumbly; my dough always comes out loose/“wet”. Maybe I let my butter sit on the counter too long before mixing? Idk either way, still 10/10 cookies
Kayla says
Hello! I'm wondering if these are soft or crunchy cookies? Thank you!
Kyleigh Sage says
They're more of a crumbly texture! Almost like a soft shortbread texture.
Cindie Caron says
I’m trying these out as a wedding favor. Have you tried freezing the cookies already baked?I know bakers freeze cookies and cakes all the time I personally haven’t yet.
Thanks
Cindie
Kyleigh Sage says
I've never frozen these specifically, but it should work! Just note that freezing will make them more fragile and prone to breaking. I also wouldn't freeze them with the glaze. However, I do know the dough freezes great! You can cut out and flash freeze the cookies in sheets for 2 hours, then transfer to smaller containers and then just bake from frozen.
Krystal says
The recipe was very easy to follow and the cookies tasted yummy. The lemon is definitely the stronger flavor. I think next time I might cut back on the lemon zest or increase the amount of lavender. The glaze did not make enough for my cookies and I had to make a second batch of it.
Jasmine says
So easy to make and was a refreshing treat - not too sweet and not too flowery. I rolled the dough into logs and put them in the fridge overnight. It was easy to cut even sized cookies and then pop them in the oven.
jess says
i made these and while they taste great, the glaze on them didn't dry as pretty as your photos. i found they had tons of white spots all over them, esp around the lavender flowers which was a bummer bc they looked so pretty when i first iced them. any idea how i can fix this?
Kyleigh Sage says
Ah I’m sorry! I’ve never had that problem so I’m not sure…but my best guess is that maybe there were bits of powdered sugar that didn’t fully dissolve?
Trinni Stevens says
These cookies are delicious! Like a previous commenter, I was nervous about the lavender, but this recipe calls for the perfect amount, even with the extra in the glaze! Thank you for this recipe; my kids and I loved it!
Ana Maria Silva says
My first time using lavender to bake and they did not disappoint, these cookies were light and buttery and just perfect for afternoon tea. I was a little shy with the lavender fearing it would taste too perfumy, but I plan to add more next time.