Our lemon white chocolate chip cookies are tender, cake like cookies pack some serious lemon flavor. The cookie dough is filled with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice along with plenty of sweet and creamy white chocolate. Once the cookies have finished baking, they are drizzled with a homemade lemon glaze adding even more incredible lemon flavor.
This easy to follow cookie recipe is made by hand in one bowl with melted butter. Lemon white chocolate cookies are a perfect summertime dessert or addition to your Mother's Day or baby shower brunch menu. Refrigerating the dough produces cookies with perfect tender middles and crisp, golden brown edges. If you are on the hunt for other delicious lemon cookie recipes, try our fan favorite Lemon Blueberry Cookies or our decadent Lemon Chocolate Chip Cookies packed with fresh lemon and rich dark chocolate chips.
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❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- the fresh lemon zest and lemon juice create a fresh, tangy lemon flavor in these light and fluffy lemon cookies
- mix this cookie dough in one bowl - always a plus for me when I am making a batch of cookies!
- the homemade lemon glaze adds an additional layer of lemon flavor which is balanced out by the sweet white chocolate
- perfect for make ahead and freezing for future baking - you'll always be just a few minutes away from freshly baked lemon white chocolate cookies
- crowd pleasing for all ages - these cookies are a fan favorite of both adults and kids too! The sunny lemon flavor is a fun treat for lunchboxes, after school snacks and special celebrations
🍋 Ingredient Notes
- unsalted butter - melted and cooled for this one bowl cookie recipe
- fresh lemons - the best lemon flavor definitely comes from fresh lemons - choose lemons that are slightly soft when you squeeze them - you'll use both the fresh lemon zest and lemon juice for this recipe
- vanilla extract - for flavor balance and depth - use pure vanilla extract for this recipe
- lemon extract - increases the overall lemon flavor of this cookie recipe
- white chocolate chips - I used the Ghiradelli white chocolate chips for this recipe but any high quality white chocolate will work well
- confectioners sugar - use powdered or confectioners sugar to create the lemon glaze that is drizzled over the top of the lemon cookies
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
🥣 Instructions
Combine melted butter with sugar in large mixing bowl. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract and vanilla extract to butter and sugar. Mix until well combined.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Fold in white chocolate chips.
Scoop cookie dough onto a quarter sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Cover and chill 30-60 minutes.
Bake cookies @ 350° for 8-10 minutes. While cookies are baking make lemon glaze. Drizzle baked cookies with the lemon glaze.
Hint: Make sure to use a kitchen scale when you are measuring your flour. This recipe has 2 cups or 260 grams of flour. Using a scale will guarantee the right amount of flour in your recipe. It will also help create soft and chewy cookies that don't spread too much in the oven.
🧈 Substitutions
White Chocolate Chips - if you don't have mini white chocolate chips you can substitute chopped white chocolate in its place. Chop one bar of white chocolate (1 ½ cups) into chunks and fold this into the cookie dough.
White Chocolate - If you aren't a big fan of white chocolate you can swap it out for a nice dark chocolate chip. The dark chocolate lemon combination is absolutely delicious too!
Lemon Extract - If you don't have or can't find lemon extract, you can add an additional teaspoon of fresh lemon zest to the cookie dough.
📦 Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container for 1-2 days. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls and bake fresh cookies as you need or want them. See our tips and tricks for freezing cookie dough below.
❄️ How to Freeze Lemon White Chocolate Cookie Dough
If you want to store cookie dough for future baking, follow these steps.
- Scoop cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Move sheet pan to the freezer for 2-3 hours or until the scoops of cookie dough are completely frozen
- Store frozen cookie dough balls in a freezer safe bag or container.
⏲️ Baking Cookie Dough From Frozen
- Bake lemon white chocolate cookies for 8-10 minutes or
- Preheat your oven to 350°
- Arrange frozen cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow cookie dough to thaw just a little bit while your oven is preheating.
🤓 Top Cookie Making Tips
Use a Cookie Dough Scoop
This will literally be one of your best kitchen investments. I use a cookie dough scoop when I'm making cookies, but I also use it to add batter to a Madeleine pan, to scoop pancake batter in to the hot frying pan and even for making meatballs. There are just so many uses.
Use a Citrus Zester
A good citrus zester is a great tool to have in the kitchen. Not only will it come in handy when you are baking cookies but it's also perfect for adding fresh citrus zest to muffin, quick bread and pasta recipes. A citrus zester also works really well for grating parmesan cheese. 🍝
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📖 Recipe
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Soft Lemon White Chocolate Cookies - Simple One Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice juice squeezed from one lemon
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup white chocolate chips
For the Lemon Glaze
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice juice squeezed from one half of a lemon
- 1 cup confectioners sugar sifted
Instructions
For the Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, melt your butter for 30-60 seconds in the microwave. Most of the butter should be melted but some lumps should remain. Allow butter to cool for a few minutes.
- Add sugar to melted butter and mix until well combined.
- Add eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon extract to butter and sugar. Mix well.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Fold in the white chocolate chips.
- Scoop and arrange the cookie dough on a parchment lined sheet pan. Move tray to the refrigerator and chill the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes.
- While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350°.
- Arrange the chilled balls of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet leaving two inches of space between cookies. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
For the Lemon Glaze
- Combine the lemon juice and confectioners sugar in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until the glaze is smooth. If it's a little too thin, add a few additional tablespoons of confectioners sugar.
- Once cookies have cooled, drizzle them with the lemon glaze. Allow the glaze to set for 15-20 minutes before serving the cookies.
Nutrition
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