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    Home ยป Desserts ยป Cookies

    Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

    August 21, 2023 By Sam 14 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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    collage of lemon poppy seed cookies, top image of cookies stacked, bottom image of cookies photographed from above

    These soft and chewy lemon poppy seed cookies have the same bright and buttery flavor as their muffin counterparts! My recipe skips the extracts and artificial flavors and gets its flavor from 100% real lemons instead. Recipe includes a how-to video!

    Stack of glazed lemon poppy seed cookie halves.

    What’s to Love about these Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

    • Authentic flavor. My recipe uses 100% REAL lemons to get a fresh, tart, and real lemon flavor. That’s right, no extract, no pudding mixes, no emulsions, just the real-deal that you can actually taste.
    • Quick & easy. The recipe is simple and straightforward with only 30 minutes of chilling required.
    • Make ahead options. The dough can be made up to 3 days in advance.
    • Impressive on any dessert table. With their bright lemon-yellow color (which, ahem, I’ll mention again is totally authentic and from the lemons — no food coloring!) and delicate poppyseed freckles, they’re so pretty and perfect for spring or summer!

    There’s something delightfully unique about the combo of bright lemon flavor and crisp poppy seeds. If you’ve enjoyed my lemon poppy seed muffins or scones, you’re in for a treat! Lemon poppy seed cookies have the same bright and sunny flavor, but in soft (really, really soft!) and chewy cookie form.

    Overhead view of lemon poppy seed cookies drizzled with lemon glaze.

    It was very important to me that these cookies have a beautiful lemon flavor without the need for extract or artificial flavors. Also important that they NOT be cakey. If you’ve followed my pumpkin cookie or banana cookie saga, you know that adding moisture (there in the form of pumpkin or banana, here in the form of lemon juice) can quickly turn a soft cookie into a cakey one.

    I took some very deliberate steps with today’s recipe to ensure it had all the characteristics of a good, chewy cookie, starting with the ingredients.

    What You Need

    Since we aren’t using any fancy flavors or extracts here, you will likely have all of these ingredients on hand already. Don’t you love when that happens?!

    Overhead view of ingredients including flour, butter, lemons, poppy seeds, and more.
    • Softened butter. I use unsalted butter and add salt myself, but you can just use salted butter and skip the additional salt. I have an entire post on why I use unsalted butter vs. salted butter, in case you’d like to understand the reasoning behind that choice.
    • Lemons. We will use fresh lemon zest and juice (fresh lemon juice is essential here!) for maximum lemon flavor. Always zest your lemons before juicing, and make sure you don’t zest so far that you reach the bitter white pith–we only want the thin yellow skin! I find I typically need about two lemons for this recipe. Make sure they’re fresh, not ones where the skin is thin and drying from sitting on your counter too long.
    • Egg yolks. To reduce excess moisture in the dough, especially since we are adding lemon juice, I decided to skip the egg whites and use only egg yolks (which also felt like an appropriate nod toward lemon curd, which only uses egg yolks, too). This gives our cookies a gorgeous yellow color as well. You can save your egg whites for meringue cookies, pavlova, or macarons.
    • Poppy seeds. An essential ingredient! Not only do poppy seeds add a nice crunch to these cookies, they add fun a visual element too. Some people like to soak their poppyseeds before baking, but I don’t find it necessary. I talk more about this below.

    Now what you don’t need: vanilla extract! The omission of vanilla extract from this recipe was absolutely intentional. Unfortunately, it strongly subdued the fresh lemon flavor, ironically making the cookies more bland! While I’m personally a vanilla fan, we’ll skip it here.

    SAM’S TIP: There are so many ways to zest a lemon, but my favorite method for this recipe is to use a microplane. Here’s a guide on how to zest a lemon with several different tools, in case you need a refresher!

    Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

    How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

    Cookie Dough

    We’ll start by beating a healthy amount of lemon zest into butter and sugar. This step brings out the oils of the lemon zest and emulsifies every bit of lemon flavor into the dough, just like in my lemon cookies. We’ll add a bit of fresh lemon juice too, just for good measure. And yes, it has to be freshly squeezed!

    Collage of four photos showing lemon cookie dough being prepared with a hand mixer.
    1. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy.
    2. Stir in the egg yolks and lemon juice until well combined.
    3. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
    4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until combined. Cover the dough with plastic and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
    Two photos showing cookie dough being scooped and baked.
    1. Scoop and roll the chilled dough into 1.5 Tablespoon balls. Place 2″ apart on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 11-12 minutes at 350F.
    2. Let the cookies cool for at least 10 minutes before adding the glaze.

    Lemon Glaze

    The cherry on top, this glaze is bursting with flavor. Don’t skip it!

    Two photos showing glaze being prepared and drizzled over cookies.
    1. Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, starting with just 1 ยฝ tablespoons of juice. Add more if needed until you reach the right consistency; the ribbon of glaze that falls off your whisk should hold its shape for a few seconds before dissolving back into the rest of the glaze.
    2. Drizzle glaze over the cookies and let firm up before enjoying. If you’d like to sprinkle some additional poppy seeds over the glaze while it’s still wet, feel free!

    SAM’S TIP: Stop baking your cookies when the edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown for soft and chewy results. The centers may still look a little underdone, but they will continue cooking on the baking sheet outside the oven.

    Overhead view of a pile of lemon cookies drizzled with glaze.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can I make the dough in advance?

    Yes! This dough can be covered and chilled up to 3 days before baking, which means these cookies are great for making in advance! If you’d like to freeze the cookie dough instead, check out my post on how to freeze cookie dough.

    Do you have to soak poppy seeds before baking?

    Some people do this to bring out the flavor of the poppy seeds or to soften them since they can be difficult to digest, but I’ve never found it necessary. In fact, I like the crunch they provide!

    Can I add lemon extract?

    I carefully designed this recipe to have a bright lemon flavor without the need for an extract or additional flavoring. You really shouldn’t need to add any lemon extract here, but if you are determined to, you can add up to one teaspoon.

    Two halves of a lemon cookie stacked on top of each other.

    These cookies would be so fun at a tea party or spring baby shower!

    Enjoy!

    Letโ€™s bake together! Iโ€™ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

    Four halves of a lemon poppy seed cookies stacked on top of each other.

    Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

    These soft and chewy lemon poppy seed cookies have the same bright and buttery flavor as their muffin counterparts! My recipe skips the extracts and artificial flavors and gets its flavor from real lemons instead.
    Recipe includes a how-to video!
    5 from 11 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: cookie, Cookies, Dessert, Dessert
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 27 minutes minutes
    Servings: 30 cookies
    Calories: 164kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
    • 1 ยฝ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
    • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
    • 2 large egg yolks room temperature preferred
    • 3 Tablespoons lemon juice fresh squeezed preferred
    • 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour
    • ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ยฝ teaspoon salt
    • 2 ยฝ teaspoons poppy seeds

    Lemon Glaze

    • 1 ยผ cups (160 g) powdered sugar
    • 1 ยฝ – 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

    Recommended Equipment

    • Mixing bowls
    • Lemon zester
    • Lemon juicer
    • Baking sheet
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until light and fluffy.
      1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ยฝ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
    • Add egg yolks and lemon juice and stir until well-combined.
      2 large egg yolks, 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
    • In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
      3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour, ยฝ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ยฝ teaspoon salt, 2 ยฝ teaspoons poppy seeds
    • Gradually add dry ingredients to wet and stir until completely combined.
    • Cover cookie dough bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
    • About 15 minutes before the dough has finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
    • Once dough has finished chilling, scoop by level 1.5 Tablespoon-sized portions. Roll the dough between your palms so that you have a round ball, then place cookie dough at least 2โ€ apart on prepared cookie sheet.
    • Bake on 350F (175C) for 11-12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn light golden brown. Allow to cool for at least ten minutes before decorating with glaze.

    Lemon Glaze

    • Whisk together powdered sugar with 1 ยฝ Tablespoons of lemon juice. Add more lemon juice as needed until you have a smooth glaze that ribbons off of your whisk and holds its shape for several seconds before dissolving into the bowl.
      1 ยผ cups (160 g) powdered sugar, 1 ยฝ – 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
    • Drizzle glaze over cookies. Allow glaze to harden before serving.

    Notes

    Lemons

    When zesting lemons, be sure not to zest too deep! Once you reach the papery white layer (the โ€œpithโ€) stop zesting. The pith is bitter and doesnโ€™t have the fresh citrus flavor we want. Always zest your lemons before squeezing them.

    Storing

    Once glaze has hardened, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 22mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 207IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Terry Moore

      January 29, 2024 at 4:33 pm

      5 stars
      Have you tried using lemon paste before? Iโ€™m wondering what adjustments I would need to make – itโ€™s similar to vanilla paste in viscosity. Your sugar cookies are my only sugar cookie recipe!

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 31, 2024 at 1:12 pm

        Hi Terry! I have not tried using a lemon paste so I can’t say for sure what would need to be altered to use it.

        Reply
    2. Becky

      December 27, 2023 at 12:31 pm

      5 stars
      Absolutely delicious!! I love citrus recipes!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 27, 2023 at 12:34 pm

        Thanks for giving them a try, Becky! Enjoy โ˜บ๏ธ

        Reply
    3. Karmann of New Jersey Fame

      December 24, 2023 at 10:11 am

      5 stars
      Sammy: Merry Christmas! Great cookies! Do you have a poppy seed loaf or bread recipe?

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 24, 2023 at 9:45 pm

        Unfortunately I do not. ๐Ÿ™

        Reply
    4. cindy

      November 07, 2023 at 8:48 pm

      5 stars
      these are fantastic! incredible lemon flavour!!!!!!! YUM – i even like them frozen – heehee

      Reply
      • Sam

        November 08, 2023 at 9:37 am

        I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Cindy! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    5. jim hynes

      August 24, 2023 at 12:04 pm

      Hi Sam/Emily

      Made them yesterday and had 3 taste testers. All agreed these are fantastic. Thanks for another winner.

      Reply
      • Sam

        August 24, 2023 at 9:47 pm

        I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Jim! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    6. R

      August 23, 2023 at 5:12 pm

      5 stars
      Hi i love your recipes. I just wanted to know if it is possible to substitute the butter for oil in this recipe. And if yes, what would be the ratio?

      Reply
      • Sam

        August 24, 2023 at 9:54 pm

        I’m not sure how the substitution would work. ๐Ÿ™

        Reply
    7. Susan Polchinski

      August 22, 2023 at 4:02 pm

      5 stars
      Unbelievably awesomely delicious!

      Reply
      • Sam

        August 22, 2023 at 4:03 pm

        So nice to hear, thank you so much for trying my recipe, Susan! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply

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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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