I have five new cookie recipes coming out in my cookbook next year (my publishing date was recently moved to April 2027), so it’s safe to say that I spent a lot of last fall and winter developing and testing various cookies. After taking a little step away from cookies for a couple of months, I decided that the recipe I wanted to use for these new flower cutters was a simple lemon shortbread cookie. No frosting, just a light dusting of powdered sugar to finish them! I love how these came out. They’re buttery and sweet, with lots of lemon flavor. I love how they look with these detailed flower cutters, but they will taste just the same no matter what shape you choose!
I want to share a few tips in case you do choose to use cutters with surface details. They can take a little bit of time to get used to because the cookies don’t release as easily as they do from a standard cutter, but the end result is worth it! It’s important to make sure that the dough is well chilled while you cut it. Once the dough gets too warm, it will become sticky and won’t release easily from the cutter. I recommend chilling the dough for an hour to an hour and a half before cutting. If you chill it for longer than that, the dough will be very hard because of how much butter is in it, and it will not roll out. Roll the dough out to exactly 1/2 cm thick for the best result. If the dough is too thick, it won’t release well from the cutter and if it’s too thin the surface details won’t show. Generously flour your cutter before each cut. You can also sprinkle flour into the smallest of details using your fingers to ensure that the flour gets into every little crevice. After cutting, tap the cutter gently against your palm to start to release the cookie dough and then gently peel the dough out. After a few cuts, you’ll start to get the feel for it and it gets much easier!
To keep the shape and surface details, I recommend baking these at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. If you want a slightly softer cookie and aren’t using a cutter with surface details, these can be baked at 325 degrees for 18 minutes.
I hope that you love these! I think they’re the perfect cookie as we finally head into the warmer months ahead. For more of my cookie recipes, check these out!
Candy cane window pane cookies
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Lemon Shortbread Cookies
These buttery, tender, and flavorful cookies are made with both lemon zest and lemon juice and then finished with a dusting of powdered sugar, making them the perfect nostalgic treat for lemon shortbread lovers!
40
servings1
hour14
minutes80
kcal1
hour2
hours14
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
2/3 cup (133 g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lemon zest (zest of 3 whole lemons) *see notes
1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice *see notes
1 egg yolk
2 cups (260 g) all purpose flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon fine pink Himalayan sea salt
1/2 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar for dusting, optional
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest by rubbing it between your fingertips or stirring it vigorously with a silicone spatula until it is fully incorporated and yellow.
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer off, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then add the lemon sugar. Mix at medium-high speed to cream the butter and lemon sugar together until light, pale yellow, and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again and add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and egg yolk. Mix at medium speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, corn starch, and salt. With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture gradually. Continue mixing at low speed, pausing to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, until fully combined. Mix until no dry spots remain, about 20 to 30 seconds after all of the flour mixture has been added. The dough will be sticky. Divide the dough evenly into two portions and, using your hands, form each portion into a ball, gently flatten the dough balls into discs and wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C/gas 4), set a rack in the middle, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously dust a work surface, a rolling pin, the cookie cutter(s), and your hands with flour. Always leave the dough portion that you aren’t working with in the refrigerator. Using the rolling pin, roll one of the dough discs out to 1/2 cm (between 1/8 and 1/4 inch) thick and cut out as many shapes as you can, placing them on the prepared baking sheet, about ½ inch (1.27 cm) apart. Once the baking sheet is full, bake until the edges are set and just barely starting to darken, about 14 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Reroll and cut any scraps once, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap again, put it into the refrigerator and switch to the other portion of dough. Repeat this process until no dough remains, switching the portions of dough into the refrigerator after one re-roll to keep the dough chilled. Once each portion of dough is too small to cut, combine them and cut one last cookie. I used a variety of 2 1/2 to 3-inch (6.35 to 7.62 cm) cutters (linked below under Equipment) and cut 40 cookies.Loading gallery media…
- Once cooled and if desired, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar. Store cookies in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 7 days.Loading gallery media…
Equipment
Forget Me Not CutterShop on Amazon
Camellia CutterShop on Amazon
Tulip CutterShop on Amazon
Alba Table RunnerSave with SarahR15
Amber Stitch TableclothSave with SarahR15
Marble Base DomeShop on The Collective Home
Pyrex Glass Mixing BowlsSave with SARAHTREED
Cooling RackShop on Williams Sonoma
Kitchenaid 7-quart Stand MixerShop on Amazon
Measuring Cups and SpoonsShop at Williams Sonoma
Mesh SieveShop at Sur La Table
Wooden Pastry BoardShop at Williams Sonoma
Rimmed Baking SheetShop on Williams Sonoma
Unbleached Parchment PaperShop on Amazon
Olivewood Rolling PinShop on Williams Sonoma
Recipe Video
Notes
- I bake with fine pink Himalayan sea salt, but any fine salt is perfectly fine!
- I used a variety of flower cutters to make these cookies, but any cutter that’s about 2 1/2 inches in diameter will work. If using cutters with details like the ones that I used, be sure to flour them well between each cut. It’s also important that the dough is between 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cm to be exact). This thickness will allow the cookie to release from the cutter and ensure that it’s thick enough to show the imprinted details.
- Lemon zest is hard to measure because it compacts instantly when you touch it, so while I wrote 3 tablespoons for this recipe, I didn’t actually measure. I used 3 whole medium to large lemons each time I tested the recipe and that’s what I am recommending. For the lemon juice, you can measure or eyeball 1 tablespoon. Depending on how juicy your lemon is, it can be the juice from 1/2 a lemon, or from a whole lemon.
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