These soft lemon rosemary cookies are easy to make and require no refrigeration. Made with only whole ingredients, they are lemony sweet and fresh.
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I am always looking for interesting ways to add ingredients from the garden into new recipes. Lemon and rosemary is one of my favorite combinations for savory dishes. (Lemon rosemary roast chicken anyone?) I wanted to try creating a sweet recipe with these same combinations. These cookies are so light and airy. They have the flavor of a lemon bar mixed with a hint of the aromatics of the rosemary. These would be perfect during the holidays or even early spring, when you want a bit of freshness in the kitchen.
We usually have a load of lemons to process every year. I usually freeze the lemon juice into ice cube trays to use in recipes later on in the year. After making this recipe, I thought that adding some lemon zest into the juice to freeze might work out well for recipes like this one that calls for both the zest and the juice.
Unlike many other cookies that include rosemary, these are not a shortbread cookie. They are a drop cookie, which is nice because it completely eliminates the element of refrigeration. Rolling the dough balls in the sugar is optional…but I recommend it. It makes them just that much more special!
Tools you’ll need to make soft lemon rosemary cookies
- A big mixing bowl
- A cheese grater with a fine grater (for the lemon zest) or a lemon zest grater
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
Ingredients you’ll need to make soft lemon rosemary cookies
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup coarse sparkling sugar, or raw sugar
How to make soft lemon rosemary cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
- Sprinkle the rosemary, and flour on top. Mix just until the dough comes together and no streaks of flour remain (do not overman!)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl add the sprinkling or raw sugar.
- Make 1-1/2 inch balls of dough, and roll in the sugar to coat.
- Place the balls on the parchment paper with enough room for them to spread out. I did 12 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are very light golden brown and centers look set.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies set a little longer on the baking sheet before removing. This step is important! If you remove the cookies right away while they are hot, they may fall apart.) Wait until they set.
- Place the cookies on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- If you choose, garnish with a bit of rosemary.
Soft lemon rosemary cookies tips
- Mix these cookies by hand-this is a tip I learned from my mom. When making cookies, avoid electric beaters or stand mixers. This will make it harder to overman your dough. Cookies are soft and chewy when they are NOT overtaxed.
- Cream the butter-until it is light and fluffy, and there are no more streaks.
- Chop the rosemary fine-make sure to get remove any coarse twigs from the rosemary. Just work with the leaves, and chop it fine so their are no large chunks.
- Be light handed when zesting the lemon-be sure to zest the lemon lightly so you only get the yellow portion of the peel. No white! The white part of the lemon peel is bitter.
- Use a fine grater– Make sure you have a cheese grater that has a “fine” side or one that will get the lemon zest really small.
- Use farm fresh ingredients, (when you can)-eggs from healthy hens, and organic homegrown lemons and rosemary make all the difference.
- Make sure to use room temperature butter-though most recipe do okay with melted butter, these cookies need to start with room temperature butter. Butter that is too warm won’t aerate properly when beaten with sugar, leading to an un-fluffy result.
Commonly asked questions
How do I make cookies soft and chewy?
Making cookies chewy comes down to two things. How they are mixed, and how long they are baked. Mixing cookie dough by hand, or being careful when using an electric mixer will help your cookie dough to stay soft. When baking, watch them carefully because all oven are different so the baking time varies slightly. Once the edges are golden brown, but the center still appears to be underbaked, then remove them from the oven. COOKIES CONTINUE TO BAKE EVEN AFTER THEY ARE REMOVED FROM THE OVEN. An overbooked cookie will be a crispy cookie, so don’t let them stay in the oven too long!
Can I use bottled lemon juice to make lemon cookies?
No. Using bottled lemon juice to make lemon cookies is not recommended. Bottled lemon juice, contains additives and preservatives. Because of this, it’s flavor is a bit different. Fresh lemon juice is the best option for lemon cookies.
Can I use dried rosemary instead of fresh in cookies?
Yes! You can substitute dried rosemary in lemon rosemary cookies. Dried rosemary has a more potent flavor, which means you should use half. I recommend using only a third of the amount of fresh rosemary that is called for. For this recipe, that would mean 1 teaspoon instead of one Tablespoon.
Can I freeze dry cookies?
Yes. Cookies freeze dry well. Even a soft cookie will become crunchy after freeze dried. The flavors are rich and almost the same as when the cookie is straight out of the oven. After the cookie is processed in the freeze dryer. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container. If you are going to store them long term read how to have long term food storage.
You may also be interested in:
Boysenberry Lemonade Popsicles
Old Fashioned Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Soft Lemon Rosemary Cookies
These soft lemon rosemary cookies are easy to make and require no refrigeration. Made with only whole ingredients, they are lemony sweet and fresh.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup coarse sparkling sugar, or raw sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
- Sprinkle the rosemary, and flour on top. Mix just until the dough comes together and no streaks of flour remain (do not overman!)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl add the sprinkling or raw sugar. - Make 1-1/2 inch balls of dough, and roll in the sugar to coat.
- Place the balls on the parchment paper with enough room for them to spread out. I did 12 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are very light golden brown and centers look set.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies set a little longer on the baking sheet before removing. This step is important! If you remove the cookies right away while they are hot, they may fall apart.) Wait until they set.
- Place the cookies on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
If you choose, garnish with a bit of rosemary.
Fed up with the fast paced modern world, Grey & Brianna made drastic changes to live slowly and intentionally. Read more about their unlikely story back to calm. If you want to send Grey & Brianna a quick message, then visit their contact page.
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