These soft lemon poppy seed sugar cookies are light and buttery, loaded with poppy seeds and lemon zest. Rolled in coarse sugar, these cookies are soft with the perfect bit of crunch. This cookie dough can either be scooped or rolled out, cut into any shape desired. The lemon in these cookies adds a nice balance between sweet and tangy. Perfect for lemon lovers!
Highlights:
- Fresh lemon juice
- Soft lemon cookies
- Slight crunch
- Lemony flavor
- Golden brown
If you like these soft lemon poppy seed sugar cookies, you’ll love thee other lemon desserts…
Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Lemon Poppy Seed Streusel Muffins
Easy 2 Ingredient Frosted Lemonade
One-Bowl Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Copycat Panera Bread Lemon Drop Cookie Recipe
Scoop or roll this cookie dough – I like to cut into small fluted cookies!
Tools I used for the lemon sugar cookies:
- Progressive International Biscuit Cutter Set of 7 – I love these as they are not sharp on your hands when pressing down, they are plastic so they will not rust, and they stack neatly inside each other.
- USA Pan Half Sheet Pan – my go-to sheet pans, these are truly non-stick and clean up nicely.
- KitchenAid 6 Qt. Stand Mixer – I always recommend a stand mixer as it saves time and helps to keep baked goods consistent.
- Rubber Spatula – a must for any home baker! Perfect for scrapping cookie dough out of the mixing bowl.
These chewy sugar cookies are my new favorite cookies!
Grocery List:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Nutty poppy seeds
Do you need to soak poppy seeds before baking?
No, you do not need to soak or grind poppy seed. Traditional poppy seeds you find in the spice aisle or at a baking store are ready to use in baked good.
What can I do with a lot of poppy seeds?
You can do a lot of things with poppy seeds, both sweet and savory. I love making these Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies, you can also make Lemon Poppy Seed Streusel Muffins or Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread Sandwich Cookies. You can also use them in savory recipes like Easy Strawberry Spinach Salad!
Instructions for the lemon poppy seed cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk together to combine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in the egg yolk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, mix again until fully combined.
Mix in the flour mixture and mix on low speed until a sticky dough forms, scrape down the sides if needed. Add in the poppy seeds and gently mix in. The dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.
Transfer the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 1/2″ thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all dough is used.* If desired coat the unbaked cookies in coarse sugar before baking.
Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheet, about 2″ apart. Chill for 30 minutes.
Once chilled, remove from the fridge and bake at 350 for 4-6 minutes.* Allow to cool for 4-5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy immediately or store cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
*It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll, you can also scoop this dough with a portion scoop.
*Baking time is dependent on the size of the cookies, I would start with 4-6 minutes and increase baking time as needed.
*You can make a quick, sweet lemon glaze to top the cookies with, using powdered sugar and low-fat milk.
Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Fresh lemon Juice
- Zest of 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoons
- 3 tbsp Poppy Seeds
- Sugar, for coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk together to combine.
- In the bowl of a hand of stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in the egg yolk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, mix again until fully combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low until incorporated, scrape down the sides if needed. Add in the poppy seeds and gently mix in. The dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.
- Transfer the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 1/2″ thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all dough is used.* If desired coat the unbaked cookies in coarse sugar before baking.
- Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, about 2″ apart. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Once chilled, remove from the fridge and bake at 350 for 4-6 minutes.* Allow to cool for 4-5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy immediately or keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @theheartylife on Instagram and hashtag it #theheartylife.
