April 3, 2019

Lemon Everything Cookies

Lemon Everything Cookies are chewy, full of fresh citrus flavor and loaded with extras– white chocolate, cranberries, coconut and almonds. Perfect for spring and anyone who loves lemon cookies. Makes 24.

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Don’t get me wrong–I love a good chocolate chip or double chocolate chunk cookie. And I can hardly resist the monster vegan everything cookies in the checkout line. But where are the other “everything” cookies?! I felt like lemon cookies deserved a moment.

What You’ll Need for Lemon Everything Cookies:

2 lemons (1 might cut it..but it’s better to have 2 on hand)
Dried cranberries, toasted coconut/almonds*, white chocolate chips
2 light colored cookie sheets
35 total minutes to golden lemon-y cookie goodness

*You’ll need toasted coconut and almond slices or slivers but toasting these at home is super easy and adds so much depth to the flavor. Or you can skip that step and buy those pre-toasted.

Lemon cookies with cranberries and white chocolate

Lemon Everything Cookies

Emma J. Watling

Deliciously bright lemon cookie with texture and crunch from mix-ins like white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, toasted coconut and almond. This recipe makes 2 dozen 2.5 inch cookies.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Resting Time 5

Total Time 35

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings cookies

Calories 151 kcal

Ingredients

Cold/Liquid Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 Tbsp lemon juice from 1-2 lemons
2 tsp lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Dry Ingredients

1½ cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix Ins

3/4 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c toasted coconut flakes* *see below
1/2 c toasted almond slices or slivers* *see below

Instructions

Toast the coconut and almonds

You can buy pre-toasted coconut/almonds for this recipe or use your favorite method (oven, stove-top, microwave) to lightly toast them. Here’s what I use for this recipe:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut and almonds on a sheet pan in a single layer. Toast for 2 minutes undisturbed. Remove from oven and shake pan to loosen items, then scrape coconut and almonds onto a sheet of parchment– spread into a single layer; do not "pile". Removing coconut and almonds from the oven promptly and removing them from the pan immediately prevents them from cooking further.

To make Lemon Everything Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two light colored cookie sheets with parchment if desired and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Meanwhile–
In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the liquid ingredients: the egg, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Once butter and sugar are creamed, add in the wet/liquid ingredients and mix on low for 30 seconds. Scrape sides of mixer if needed.
Return mixer to low speed and slowly add in the dry flour mixture–mix until just combined. Scrape sides down to fully incorporate all of the flour mixture.
Fold in the mix ins (white chocolate chips, cranberries, coconut and almonds).
Using a cookie scoop, place rounded cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake on middle rack for 13-15 minutes, until barely browned on edges and top is no longer shiny.
Let cookies rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes then move to cooling racks. Enjoy!
*Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days

Notes

This lemon cookie base can be used for whatever mix-ins you prefer!

We love the texture and depth toasted coconut and almonds give next to the sweetness of the white chocolate and chew of the cranberries but other variations you could try:

dried blueberries, walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts

Try to have no more than 2.25 total cups of mix ins.

Tips for better cookies:

Try to keep the white chocolate chips from touching the bottom of the pans–this helps keep them from scorching. You may have to ‘cover’ them with a little more cookie dough on the bottoms of the cookies.
Use fresh lemon juice and zest. Lemon flavoring and oil (while convenient) are just not as good for these cookies where you want that bright, citrus flavor