Simple Soft No-Roll Lemon Sugar Cookies

 

I love lemon and I love sugar cookies.  So, it was only a matter of time until I developed my own recipe for delicious soft lemon sugar cookies.

I have tried many recipes for lemon sugar cookies in the past, but none of them have been quite to my liking.  Most of them were just too heavy for me.  These lemon sugar cookies are light and soft and perfect.  Plus, they do not require any rolling out or cutting, so that makes them even better in my book.

Of course, if you would like to roll them out and cut them with cookie cutters this recipe will totally work for that.  Just form the dough into a disk after it is made, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it until it is stiff enough to roll out.  The cookies will still be every bit as delicious as if you made them with the no-roll method.

When I make these cookies, I simply use my two-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion them out on the cookie sheet, and then flatten them with the bottom of a glass that has been coated with sugar.  I find it easiest to coat the bottom of the glass with sugar if I grease up the bottom of the glass with some cooking spray or butter first.  Then I dip the glass in sugar between each cookie.  There is no need to re-grease the bottom of the glass.  As you are pressing the cookies, it seems to keep the glass buttered up enough that the sugar keeps sticking when you dip it in the sugar before pressing the next cookie.  I have never measured, but I would guess I press my cookies between 1/4" and 1/2" thick.

The edges of my cookies are a bit ragged and imperfect.  That is totally fine with me because I like the homemade look to them, but if you want them to look more perfect, simply roll them into perfect little balls before flattening them.

When making these cookies, I think it is important to infuse as much lemon flavor into the sugar as you can before creaming it together with the butter.  The way I do this is simply measuring the sugar into the bowl of my stand mixer, and then zesting the lemon into the bowl.

Then turn the mixer on and let it run for two or three minutes to get that lemon zest pressed into the sugar.

When all the other ingredients are added, the resulting dough is soft, and can be easily scooped onto your baking sheets.

The resulting cookies have a subtle lemon flavor.  You get the real lemon zing from the frosting.

This frosting you guys!  Do not skip this frosting!  It M A K E S these cookies and, in my opinion, it is the most perfect lemon frosting for sugar cookies that I have ever come across.

So, I have gone on way longer than I normally do on my recipe posts, so it is high time that I got to the recipe.  

Here is is... Enjoy!