This is my viral no-chill, no-spread cutout sugar cookie with a lemon twist! The Lemon Cutout Sugar Cookies are ultra soft with a luscious lemon frosting and a slight tang that you’ll love.

lemon sugar cookies decorated to look like lemons scattered on a countertop.

Lemon Cutout Cookie Recipe

This recipe is easy-peasy, lemon squeezy! It is my traditional cutout sugar cookie recipe, with a nice lemony flavor and yummy lemon frosting. Cut out and decorated to look like lemon slices, they are darling and delicious. I like to top these off with a dusting of sanding sugar to give them a little sparkle and a tiny crunch, but that’s not necessary. These cookies are a little dose of happiness and sunshine, no matter the weather.

Close up of a lemon flavored sugar cookie with lemon frosting.

Ingredients

*You can find instructions and exact quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Lemon Sugar Cookie

Salted butter, softened – I use salted butter, but you can sub in unsalted butter if you’d prefer. If you make the swap, I recommend adding an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
Granulated sugar
Lemon zest
Egg
Lemon juice – I used the lemon juice from the lemons that I zested.
Lemon flavoring – You *could* also use vanilla extract here instead. But the lemon cookies will not be as lemony.
All-purpose flour
Baking powder

Lemon Sugar Cookie Frosting

Salted butter, softened – Again, you can use unsalted butter instead if preferred.
Powdered sugar
Lemon juice – I used juice from the zested lemons. Store bought lemon juice will also work.
Lemon flavoring
Heavy cream
Yellow gel food coloring – This is purely optional, but SO cute.
White sanding sugar – Again, optional. But worth it IMO.

How to Make Cutout Lemon Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, lemon juice, and lemon flavoring. Mix until combined.
Add flour and baking powder to the bowl. Mix slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the dough comes together. The texture should be like Playdoh – add a little flour if it’s too wet or water if it is too dry in order to reach a soft, pliable consistency.
Roll the dough onto parchment paper or a floured surface with a rolling pin until ¼ to ½ -inch thick. (The cookies will not rise or spread while baking, so roll out to your desired FINISHED thickness).
Use cookie cutters and cut out desired shapes, I used a 3” round cutter. Transfer the cookies to an un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 7-9 minutes or until the centers are puffy and no longer glossy. Pull the cookies out of the oven BEFORE they start turning brown. If they turn brown, the cookie will be dry and ‘crackery’ instead of soft and chewy.
Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before decorating.
To make the lemon frosting add the butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until smooth.
Alternate adding 1 cup of powdered sugar and a splash of heavy cream, allowing the mixture to fully combine before adding more powdered sugar. Repeat until all 3 cups are added.
Add in the lemon juice and lemon flavoring and mix well.
Adjust the thickness of your frosting by adding more heavy cream to thin to a pipe-able consistency if needed.
Remove ⅔ cup of the white frosting and place in a piping bag with a very small tip inserted.
Add yellow gel coloring to the remaining frosting in your mixing bowl until the desired color is achieved.
Working one cookie at a time, spread a layer of yellow frosting on and then pipe a white border around the edge and lines through the center to look like lemon segments.
Dip the frosted cooking in white sanding sugar. This will hide imperfections and add a great little crunch!
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Frosted lemon sugar cookies on the counter.

How should I store these cookies?

Once cooled, store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. (I think these are even better the next day!).

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes! You can freeze these cookies with or without the frosting for up to 3 months! If freezing with frosting, place all cooled cookies onto a cookie sheet. Place the entire cookie sheet into the freezer and ‘flash freeze’ until they start to harden slightly and the frosting is set. Move the cookies to a ziptop bag or airtight container, with parchment between layers of cookies.

Karli’s Kitchen Faves

Here are a few of my favorite kitchen tools that I used to make this recipe!

Cookie Sheet – These cookie sheets have put in WORK in my kitchen. If you’re looking for a brand that will stand the test of time (and cookies), this is my recommendation.
Silicone baking mat – I love using this or parchment paper to line my cookie sheets to make it easy-peasy to get cookies off of the pan without sticking.
Offset spatula – I love using an offset spatula to frost cookies because it’s so much easier to get the perfect swirl on top without getting extra frosting on the side of your hand.
Piping bag – These are disposable, meaning you do not have to clean them ha. They are durable and won’t burst and leak your frosting.
Piping tips – This is a set of my 4 favorite piping tips.
Round cookie cutters – I used a 3” round cookie cutter from this set to make these cookies. For the half pieces, I cut into a circle first and then cut it in half. Bonus – you can also use these cookie cutters to reshape baked cookies by gently rolling the cutter around the bake cookie to round out the edges.

Lemon sugar cookies decorated to look like lemons.

Sunshine-y Recipes

Lemon Cutout Cookies

This is my viral no-chill, no-spread cutout sugar cookie with a lemon twist! The Lemon Cutout Sugar Cookies are ultra soft with a luscious lemon frosting and a slight tang that you’ll love.

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Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 9

Servings: 3″ cookies

Ingredients

Lemon Sugar Cookie

1 cup (222g) salted butter, softened
1 cup (230g) granulated sugar
1/2 Tbsp lemon zest *zest of 2 lemons
1 egg
1 Tbsp lemon juice *from zested lemons
1/2 tsp lemon flavoring
3 cups (456g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Lemon Sugar Cookie Frosting

1/2 cup (111g) salted butter, softened
3 cups (321g) powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice *from zested lemons
1/2 tsp lemon flavoring
3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
Yellow gel food coloring, if desired
White sanding sugar, if desired

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
1 cup (222g) salted butter, softened, 1 cup (230g) granulated sugar, 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, lemon juice, and lemon flavoring. Mix until combined.
1 egg, 1 Tbsp lemon juice , 1/2 tsp lemon flavoring
Add flour and baking powder to the bowl. Mix slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the dough comes together. The texture should be like Playdoh – add a little flour if it’s too wet or water if it is too dry in order to reach a soft, pliable consistency.
3 cups (456g) all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder
Roll the dough onto parchment paper or a floured surface with a rolling pin until ¼ to ½ -inch thick. (The cookies will not rise or spread while baking, so roll out to your desired FINISHED thickness).
Use cookie cutters and cut out desired shapes, I used a 3” round cutter. Transfer the cookies to an un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 7-9 minutes or until the centers are puffy and no longer glossy. Pull the cookies out of the oven BEFORE they start turning brown. If they turn brown, the cookie will be dry and ‘crackery’ instead of soft and chewy.
Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before decorating.
To make the lemon frosting add the butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until smooth.
1/2 cup (111g) salted butter, softened
Alternate adding 1 cup of powdered sugar and a splash of heavy cream, allowing the mixture to fully combine before adding more powdered sugar. Repeat until all 3 cups are added.
3 cups (321g) powdered sugar, 3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
Add in the lemon juice and lemon flavoring and mix well.
2 Tbsp lemon juice , 1/2 tsp lemon flavoring
Adjust the thickness of your frosting by adding more heavy cream to thin to a pipe-able consistency if needed.
Remove ⅔ cup of the white frosting and place in a piping bag with a very small tip inserted.
Add yellow gel coloring to the remaining frosting in your mixing bowl until the desired color is achieved.
Yellow gel food coloring, if desired
Working one cookie at a time, spread a layer of yellow frosting on and then pipe a white border around the edge and lines through the center to look like lemon segments.
Dip the frosted cooking in white sanding sugar. This will hide imperfections and add a great little crunch!
White sanding sugar, if desired
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.