These glazed lemon poppy seed cookies are sweet, tender and full of lemon flavor! Topped off with a light lemon poppy seed glaze for an extra punch of flavor. These cookies will bring a little brightness to any day!
Tips for Making Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
While these cookies are fairly straight forward to make here are a few notes to help you get the best results!
- Lemon Sugar – Rub the lemon zest and sugar together with your hands. The mixture will become very fragrant and oils from the zest will infuse into the sugar, bringing out the lemon flavor even more.
- Room Temperature Butter – Having the butter softened to room temperature will help it to incorporate with the sugar & other wet ingredients smoothly. If too cold, the butter could remain lumpy, if too warm, it can turn greasy; either way can impact the spread of cookies when baked.
- Measuring the flour – It is so important to measure your flour properly. One of the biggest reasons a recipe can turn out wonky is due to incorrectly measured flour. Too much flour can lead to cookies not spreading enough, or becoming tough, dry or too crumbly. For the most accurate measurement you can use a food scale to weigh the flour. Otherwise gently scoop flour into a measuring cup using a spoon and level it off with a flat edge.
- Mixing – Mix the dough JUST until there are no streaks of flour left. I like to finish mixing by hand to ensure I don’t overwork the dough in the stand mixer.
- Chilling – Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes after mixing. This will make the dough easier to scoop out, and also prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
- Testing for doneness – When done baking, the cookies should be barely brown around the edges, with the centers pale and puffed. As the cookies cool, the center will flatten out.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Glaze
For the ultimate lemon flavor, and a bit of extra sweetness, lightly coat each cookie with a lemon poppy seed glaze. This glaze comes together super quickly and uses only a few simple ingredients: powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, and poppy seeds. Simply whisk everything together until you have a thin, easily pourable consistency. If the glaze is too thick, add 1-2 tsp lemon juice or milk, but if it’s too thin, add a tablespoon or two more powdered sugar.
Lightly coat each of the cooled cookies with the glaze. I like to use a small silicone pastry brush to do this, but you could also use a spoon to pour on the glaze.
FAQs
Do I have to use the glaze?
No, if you prefer not to glaze the cookies, that is totally fine. However, I find that the bright lemon taste really shines through the glaze. For the best overall flavor I highly encourage you to glaze the cookies!
Can I leave out the poppy seeds?
Of course, the poppy seeds will not make or break this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand or choose not to use any, you will still have a really amazing glazed lemon cookie!
How to store lemon poppy seed cookies?
These cookies can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days or in the fridge for even longer. One thing I love about this recipe is that the cookies stay fresh and soft even when kept in the fridge!
For even more lemon desserts, check out these recipes:
- Easy Peasy Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust
- Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Muffins
- Lemon & Elderflower Cupcakes
- Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets
Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Chilling Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 45 min
- Yield: 14 cookies 1x
Description
Bright lemon poppy seed cookies coated in a sweet and tangy lemon poppy seed glaze. These cookies are addictively chewy, tender and have a hint of crunch from the poppy seeds. Perfect for any lemon lover!
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- Zest of 2 large lemons
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ (270g) cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Glaze:
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp poppy seeds
Instructions
Cookies:
- In a medium bowl rub together the sugar and lemon zest between your fingers until fragrant.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and lemon sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the egg, yolk, lemon juice, lemon extract, and vanilla extract, beating until combined. (The wet ingredients may look split or curdled at this point, but will come together when the dry ingredients are added.)
- In the same medium bowl used for the sugar, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed, until just barely combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish mixing by hand using a rubber spatula until no streaks of flour remain. Dough will be thick and tacky.
- Allow the dough to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a 3 tbsp sized scoop, portion the dough into 14 dough balls. Place 6 cookies on each sheet pan. (Keep remaining dough in the fridge until ready to bake.)
- Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are light golden brown and the center looks pale and puffed. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Glaze:
- Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl until the glaze is a thin consistency.
- Use a pastry brush or a spoon to coat each of the cooled cookies with glaze. Glaze will set up after about 30 minutes at room temperature.
Notes
- Cookies can be stored in the fridge or at room temperature. Even fresh from the fridge these cookies will retain their soft and chewy texture.
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