One of my top recipes is this almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe – a soft-baked, melt-in-your-mouth gem of a cookie that is surprisingly gluten-free, dairy-free, relatively low in sugar, and ridiculously easy to whip up. It’s a fave in our family, and I’ve been wanting to create a lemon variation for awhile.
Done!
These gluten-free lemon cookies are the perfect cookie for spring – bring on Easter, Mother’s Day, or just your sunny day citrussy cookie craving.
If you’ve ever baked lemon-flavored goodies before, you undoubtedly know it can be tough to get the lemon flavor to shine through. These cookies make use of zest, lemon extract, and juice (in the glaze) for a nice lemony pow. The cookie itself has more subtle lemon flavor, but that seriously zingy glaze on top is what really makes it happen.
Together they make for a pretty darn glorious lemon cookie situation – soft, sweet, and melt-in-your mouth goodness.
These cookies come together so, so easily – so much easier than traditional cookies.
Simply melt some coconut oil and mix it in with the sugar, lemon zest, lemon extract, and eggs. Then stir in the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
One bowl. So easy.
Scoop out the dough, press down a bit with your fingers, and bake.
Once they’ve cooled, dip the cookies in your lemon glaze and let it harden.
Good to go!
If you’ve been looking for the ultimate gluten-free lemon cookie recipe that’s dairy-free too, I hope you feel the same way I do about these lemon cookies – my search stops here!
Glazed Soft-Baked Almond Flour Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from one large organic lemon (you'll juice the lemon for the glaze)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 3 cups blanched almond flour**
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (from the zested lemon)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- If your coconut oil is still solid, measure out the 1/4 cup and add to a small saucepan set over low heat. Keep over heat just until melted - don't let it get too hot, or it'll cook the eggs! Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and lemon zest. Add the coconut oil. Stir in the eggs and the lemon extract and mix until well-combined.
- Add the almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir well until combined.
- Scoop cookies out by tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, spacing about two inches apart. I use this cookie scoop (affiliate link) and it's one of my favorite kitchen tools!
- Press the dough with two fingers to flatten a bit. If the dough sticks to your fingers, wet your fingers with a little warm water.
- Bake until set, puffy, and just lightly golden around the edges, 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, mix together the glaze. In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar. Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice and stir with a fork until smooth. The glaze should be thick enough to cling to the top of the cookies but not so thin that it will drip off the edges. If too thick, add more lemon juice a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add more powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
- Dip the cookies upside down in the glaze, covering the top of the cookie. Set the cookie back down on the wire rack and let sit until the glaze hardens, about 1 hour.
- Store cookies at room temperature in a sealed container. Cookies keep for about 4 days.
I’m so glad you’re here! I’m a vegetarian home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m married to an enthusiastic carnivore, and my mission is to achieve peace in the kitchen – one tasty recipe at a time. These days, I also try not to ask to speak to the manager.
I’m confused…you say these are dairy free but they contain eggs…
Please clarify
Thank you
Hi Tricia, eggs aren’t considered dairy. Cow milk and any of its derivatives are. I hope that clarifies! In my other soft-baked almond flour cookie recipe, people have had success using both chia eggs and flax eggs, so I think those would work here too, but I haven’t tested it yet.
These cookies look amazing!!!! I was wondering if I could use Stevia instead of sugar? I would love to make them sugar free! thank you so much! 🙂
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but for what it’s worth, someone recently tried Swerve instead of sugar in my other similar recipe made with almond flour (glazed lemon cookies) and said they turned out great. If you try it please report back!
I have to say these are delicious!!!! I just made them as a thank you gift but my husband had me keep a few for us. I did use erythitol instead if regular sugar as my husband is border line diabetic. And I used regular eggs😊
Thank you for a great gluten free lemony delight!
I’m allergic to coconut oil. I want to make the lemon cookies so what else can I use?
I haven’t tried it with another oil (sorry!) Perhaps canola or even butter if you’re not avoiding dairy? If you try a sub please report back how it goes!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have already made it three times and it’s so good that all of my regular gluten eating, dairy loving family keep asking me to make more! I make one small modification: I use almond extract instead of lemon extract in the cookies and it turns out nicely!
Do you know if it would work to use an all purpose gluten free flour? My one son is gluten free and the other one can’t have dairy or nuts! Thanks! They look delicious!
Hi Lauren, I’ve not tried this with any other types of flour, so I can’t say for sure, I’m sorry! I think you would have better luck with a more traditional style chocolate chip cookie recipe as this one relies heavily on the fat in the almond flour.
Can I use lemon juice instead of lemon extract?
Yep! But please know lemon extract is the main source of lemony flavor other than the glaze, so the flavor will not be nearly as lemony.
Any suggestions for the vegan in my family, what to use as an egg substitute? My husband and I are leaving white sugar and white flour, so I substituted the 1/2 of sugar with 12 truvia packets. They are yummy!
I have a similar recipe for almond flour chocolate chip cookies in which readers have reported substituting a flax egg with success, so that may work here?
I forgot, I didn’t have the coconut oil and vegetable oil worked fine, but it may lose sweetness. I used truvia instead of sugar and increased the zest to compensate. I also didnt have rhw lemon extract so I used twice as much in lemon juice and more zest, as stated above. The turned out delicious. Now to think of how to glaze without confectioners sugar, my favorite!
amazing. i use butter and it works just fine. i was having trouble with the bottoms falling out but i was making them too big! i use about half the amount of powdered sugar. these cookies are bomb.
So glad you liked these ones! Good to know that size is key; I’ve not made them larger, so I didn’t know! Thank you for sharing and for your review!
These cookies came out light and almost cake like, and were a big hit! I didn’t have lemon extract so used lemon juice and up the zest in the cookie dough.
Thank you for the review! I’m so glad they were a hit.