Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies

A chewy, soft lemon cookie is a thing of beauty—bright and zingy yet wonderfully understated. At first glance, these might look like simple iced sugar cookies, but housed within is enough lemon zest to add some serious pep. This lemon cookie recipe requires just one mixing bowl—no need for an electric mixer—and achieves otherworldly citrus flavor by massaging the zest into the sugar. This tints the sugar a cheery yellow hue while releasing the fruit’s fragrant oils and perfuming everything with sunny lemon flavor.

From there, it’s as simple as mixing in the wet ingredients (melted butter, eggs, vanilla) followed by the dry ingredients (flour, leavening). The key? Don’t overbake. As soon as you see cracks form, pull the cookie sheet from the oven. Though they may seem alarmingly soft, as the cookies cool, they’ll set to a sublimely chewy texture with delicately crisp edges. A final drizzle of lemon glaze—fresh lemon juice whisked with powdered sugar—adds a tangy finish, enlivening each bite with that trademark lemony zip.