Featured Comment
From Jen: “Unbelievably soft, lemony, and easy to make! The lemon isn’t overpowering, it’s the (chef’s kiss) perfect amount! These will be added to my LONG list of repeat ME recipes!”
From JP: “These lemon cookies are fantastic especially from the freezer! I make a batch, place them in the freezer and eat them directly from the freezer! They are still soft and chewy and the lemon flavor is enhanced by the cold! Even family and friends who are not gluten free enjoy these!”
From Jessica: “So delicious! Followed the recipe as written and they turned out perfect. Great lemon flavor. Not dry or dense like other GF recipes I have tried. Thank you!”
Recipe Overview
⏱️ Time to Taste: About 1 hour 30 minutes (includes chilling)
✨ Texture: Soft centers with lightly crisp edges and a chewy bite
🥣 Ease: Easy (No rolling pin or decorating required!)
🌾 Flour Used: King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure Flour
🍋 Key Ingredient: Two whole fresh lemons for maximum citrus flavor
🎉 Best For: Spring, summer, baby showers, Easter, brunches, afternoon tea, cookie exchanges
❤️ Why You’ll Love It: Fresh lemon zest is rubbed into the sugar before mixing, creating incredibly fragrant cookies packed with real lemon flavor.
I love a classic gluten-free chocolate chip cookie, but when I’m in the mood for lemon cookies, I mean business! Keep in mind you’ll need TWO large lemons to make this recipe. It’s bursting with REAL lemon flavor. No lemon extract required!
I also love rolling the cookie dough balls in lemon sugar for even MORE sweet lemon flavor.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free lemon cookies. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: I recommend using a high-quality gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. This will give your cookies a nice chewy texture! I like King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure Flour.
- Butter: I use salted butter in all of my baking recipes. Letting it come to room temperature before using helps the butter cream more easily with the sugar for a lighter cookie!
- Lemon juice/zest: Just like with this lemon posset, I use real lemon juice and zest in this recipe for the brightest lemon flavor. Remember to zest the lemon before juicing. You’ll use the zest in both the dough and the sugar coating.
How to Make Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Prep the Lemon Sugar Coating: I rub the lemon zest into the sugar to release its natural oils, creating an even stronger lemon flavor.
Combine the Dry Ingredients: Whisking the dry ingredients together first helps distribute the leavening agents evenly for consistent cookies.
Cream the Butter: I mix the room-temperature butter with the sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Properly creaming the butter helps create a lighter texture and soft, chewy centers.
Add Eggs, Vanilla, and Lemon Juice: I add these ingredients to the creamed butter and mix just until everything is fully combined and smooth (about 1 minute).
Combine & Chill: I slowly add the dry mixture in three additions, mixing just until combined. I highly recommend chilling the dough so the gluten-free flour can hydrate and the cookies don’t spread too much.
Coat & Bake: After chilling, roll the dough into balls, coat in lemon sugar, and bake for about 10 minutes until just set. I love the crisp, sweet lemon finish the sugar coating creates on the outside of the cookies.
Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instructions
To Make-Ahead: The dough can be made in advance and refrigerated covered for 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months. I recommend rolling the dough into balls before freezing, then baking from frozen. Just add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
To Store: Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
To Freeze: Freeze baked cookies in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
What Do Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies Taste Like?
These gluten-free lemon cookies are soft and chewy with crisp edges and an irresistible fresh lemon flavor. They’re more citrusy than my gluten-free sugar cookies but sweeter and less tart than my gluten-free lemon bars, making them the perfect balance of bright and sweet.
How Do I Know When They’re Done Baking?
I pull these cookies from the oven when the edges look set, but the centers still appear slightly soft. They will continue to firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
Can I Use Bottled Lemon Juice?
Fresh lemon juice is best for these cookies. I don’t recommend using bottled lemon juice. It doesn’t have the same bright, fresh flavor and may make the cookies taste flat.
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies (Soft & Chewy!)
Ingredients
Lemon Sugar:
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, about the zest of 1 large lemon
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ⅔ cups (400g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Other:
- 1 cup (226g) butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, about the zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice, about the juiceof 2-3 lemons
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Lemon Sugar
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to a bowl and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps to release more essential oils from the zest. Set aside for rolling the dough balls before baking.
Make the Dough
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or use an electric hand mixer), add the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Mix until very light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
- Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla and mix again for 1-2 minutes until the batter lightens in color. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again until everything is evenly combined.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients in 3 additions. Mixing well between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for another 15 seconds.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to 2 days).
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray.
- Scoop the cookie dough into 2 tablespoon-sized balls and roll until smooth. (A #40 cookie scoop works well here.)
- Stir the lemon sugar to break up any clumps, then roll each dough ball in the sugar.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in April 2023. It was updated with new photos and instructions in July 2026.
These lemon cookies are fantastic especially from the freezer! I make a batch, place them in the freezer and eat them directly from the freezer! They are still soft and chewy and the lemon flavor is enhanced by the cold! Even family and friends who are not gluten free enjoy these!
Yay! We love to hear such amazing feedback like this! Thank you for taking the time to share with us. We’re so glad you love the lemon cookies!
These lemon cookies were delicious! I even made them vegan and gluten free and they had such a great flavor!
Yay! We’re so pleased to hear they worked well vegan. Thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback with us!
I love to bake and I love sweets, especially cookies; however, my husband is not much of a sweet eater. So I bake cookies when I am having friends over and send most of them home with them. If not, I would eat most of them and much too quickly. The lemon cookies were a huge hit, so much so that I have been asked for the recipe. Because I am lactose intolerant, I us lactose free butter and it is salted. (I’ve yet to find an unsalted one.) I cut the salt by half and it worked out perfectly. Your recipes are pretty much fail proof; thanks for that.
Aww, we love to hear how much everyone enjoyed the lemon cookies! Thank you for coming back and sharing this with us, Cherie. It’s great to hear they worked well with the lactose-free butter. Happy baking!
These were pretty easy to make and the lemon flavor is so delicious! Mine did not flatten however. I refrigerated for about 2 hours. What did I do wrong?
Hi Katie, we’re so glad you enjoyed the flavor! It sounds like the butter was too cold when they went in the oven which caused them to not spread as much. After chilling the dough, you can set it out at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes to let the butter warm just a little. We hope your next batch goes even better!
These turned out amazing! Do you know if this recipe works with oranges instead of lemons?
Hi Michelle, you can certainly use oranges! Great idea! Glad you liked them!
Due to allergies, I substituted the egg with 1/4 c unsweetened Mott’s applesauce & maple syrup for vanilla extract. These cookies were a hit for a bachelorette party & my family. They came out thinner & crispy, & I baked them more like 11-13 minutes. Some broke when sliding off the cooling pan, but people were asking for more after tasting one.
Hi Brena, wonderful to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for the review and sharing your experience with the substitutions!
So delicious! Followed the recipe as written and they turned out perfect. Great lemon flavor. Not dry or dense like other GF recipes I have tried. Thank you!
Hi Jessica, we’re happy to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks for the 5-star review, it means a lot!
I followed every step but they turned out flat, crisp and brown around the edges and pale in the middle. The only difference is that I froze them the day before. I also used red mill gf flour. It has xantham gum. Please advise? Thank you
Hi Cara, we’re sorry you had this experience! It sounds like the dough got too hot too fast which can happen if the oven is too hot (home ovens can often become inaccurate) or with darker baking sheets. The bottoms and edges brown fast while the middles stay underbaked. Another consideration would be if you baked straight from frozen or thawed them first as each plays into how the butter performs in the oven. We hope these ideas help!
hi, am I able to not use egg, thanks
Hi Millie, we don’t typically bake with egg substitutes unfortunately. If you decide to try it egg-free, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Wow! Do these cookies pack a punch! If you really like lemon, you are going to love these cookies!! Very lemony and delicious! I still can’t believe that all these cookies I have made are all gluten free. Thank you
Hi Maria, we’re so happy to hear how much you enjoyed the lemon cookies! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Fantastic, as written! Crispy outside and melt away inside! My family had no idea I used GF flour!
We love to hear this! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience with us!
I have made these 4 times now!! They are so delicious & my family loves them. They ask if I can make them for every occasion. The recipe is easy to follow and the lemon citrus taste perfectly balances the traditional sugar cookie taste! I definitely recommend 🙂
Yay! We’re so happy to hear these cookies have been such a hit with the whole family! Thank you for such positive feedback, Reilly!
Howdy! Made your gluten free lemon cookies today! Absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thank you, Cynthia! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed the lemon cookies so much. Happy baking!
I just made these cookies tonight for my husband who is GF because of celiac – which was also my first time making cookies from scratch EVER – and omg we are obsessed!!! They were so easy to make and turned out perfect, even for someone who has never made a cookie before. I almost prefer them to a non-gluten free cookie because of how amazing and chewy the texture is. I literally had to double check to make sure I used GF flour because I couldn’t believe it wasn’t dry and crumbly like most GF baked goods lol. I will be making these over and over for years to come! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Wow! Thank you for such amazing feedback, Allie! We’re so pleased to hear you enjoyed the recipe this much. This makes us so happy to hear!
Can these be made ahead of time and frozen? Thanks!
Hi Cindy, yes these cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Fantastic! Thanks!
Can I use monk sugar instead of regular sugar as I’m also diabetic?
Hi Sharron, unfortunately we don’t typically bake with sugar substitutes and are unfamiliar with how to adapt recipes to make them suitable for a diabetic diet. If you decide to test out the monk sugar, we’d love to hear how it goes!