Love lemon? You will love these Lemon Bar Cookies! They’re like a tart lemon curd or bar in cookie form mixed with gooey butter bars. Creamy and tart all in the same amazing bite!
It has been quite the savory kind of week here at The Seaside Baker, and I thought it was finally time for something sweet!
I am on a total lemon kick right now, and can’t seem to get enough. Lemon curd, lemon cake, lemon bars, and these Lemon Bar Cookies. I just came back from a friend’s house where she loaded me up with probably 30 pounds of lemons and limes…so let the obsession continue! Don’t worry, I will be adding some savory lemon dishes to the mix too….maybe 🙂
Why You’ll Love Lemon Bar Cookies
Now, about these Lemon Bar Cookies. They are like a tart lemon curd or bar…in cookie form, mixed with the gooey butter bars that I posted last week. In other words-creamy and tart all in the same bite.
Why Lemon Bar Cookies are Extra Lemon-y
There are a few ingredients that I added to really up the lemon flavor. In addition to the lemon zest and juice I added instant lemon pudding. This is not necessary, but it does help keep the cookies soft and fresh for days. If you don’t want to add the pudding or can’t find it, replace it with cornstarch and it will keep the cookies soft.
I also added lemon extracts, but I would like to point out that not all extracts are the same. I highly suggest using Nielsen-Massey Pure Lemon Extract
because it has a true lemon flavor, unlike the artificial tasting extract found at the grocery store. Again, this extract is not absolutely necessary, but highly suggested. You can always add vanilla in its place too.
Enjoy!
Anyway, I can’t wait to try these Lemon Bar Cookies with lime curd or maybe even grapefruit! Don’t you think they would be delicious! Happy baking!
- 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup Instant Lemon Pudding Mix (powder)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound cream cheese
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar) for rolling and dusting
- In a bowl combine flour, lemon pudding mix, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a whisk.
- Using your electric mixer or beaters, beat together cream cheese, butter, sugar, extract and zest.
- Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture.
- Mix in lemon juice.
- Slowly add flour mixture to wet mixture, beating on slow until just combined.
- Cover and refrigerate dough for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out 1 in rounds and roll in a bowl of confectioner's sugar *note dough will be sticky
- Place on cookie sheet leaving 2 inches between each cookie dough ball.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edge a just barley browned.
- Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes then cool completely on cooling rack.
recipe adapted from Mathew Rice
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Looks delicious!! Reminds me of the tasty ones we had at The Cravory 🙂
I have to say…they were part of my inspiration! That and I have 30 pounds of lemons!
Oh baby…these sound delicious!!
these look so soft and yummy!
Just a silly Australian question… Is a stick of butter 250g where you are?
No, a stick of butter here is about 114 grams. You Australians make your butter blocks huge! 🙂
These look amazing. My mom is on a quest for the perfect lemon cookie, so I’ll definitely be making these!
Thanks! Let me know if you like them!
Due to cost reasons, I omitted the lemon extract and vanilla extract but they still came out pretty lemony. Regardless, they were a hit with friends and co-workers!
So glad you liked them! Yes, I agree that the extract can be kind of pricey.
In instructions were ..1 teaspoon lemon. And1/4 cup lemon juice…did I get this correct? What does that mean?
It was for the lemon zest. All fixed now! Thanks for letting me know!
How much cornstarch would you use instead of the pudding mix?
I would use a tablespoon. Let me know how they came out 🙂
Where do you put the 1 teaspoon lemon extract ….?? please reply ASAP
Add it after you cream the sugar and butter. Thanks!
I made a very popular lemon cookie recipe from Pinterest, and it was more like a lemon-flavored sugar cookie. But THESE. These were DEFINITELY lemon cookies, and they were exactly what I was looking for!
I made some changes (because I live at a high altitude). I added more flour and used less baking powder and sugar. I also used vanilla extract instead of lemon, and I thought they were lemon-y enough.
They were super yummy, but the dough and resulting cookies were really thick and creamy. Normally I would add milk to thin dough, but I’m reluctant to do that because of the acidic lemon juice. Do you think it would be okay if I used less cream cheese? (And how much less?) Or should I add a bit of water?
Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper! 🙂
Half recipe:
2 1/8 cup flour
1/6 cup pudding mix
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter (softened)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 TBS. lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1/8 cup lemon juice
Just made these for my son to send to Japan (Air Force) who LOVES lemon bars but I didn’t think they would travel well. They are very yummy!
Just wondering if you shipped them and if you did, did they arrive intact?
Dying to try these! Can I freeze the dough?
Do either the dough or the cookies hold up in the refrigerator or freezer? Wondering if we will get the right taste and texture if we made ahead and keep them cold.
Hi Niki! I have made the dough ahead of time, rolled it out individually, and froze the balls. The cookies came out fine. I would not however bake them frozen, so let the dough sit out until it is cold, but not frozen. Thanks!
These are absolutely delicious!! I found that I had to bake them 2-3 minutes longer than the recipe called for, and they turned out perfect. I’ll be making them again and again!
Wondering how many cookies the full recipe makes?
What size scoop?
This recipe looks delicious, but I am specifically looking for a bar cookie–has anybody tried that, and if so, how did it come out?
These turned out so well!!! Should I refrigerate cooked cookies are can be hey be stored at room temp?