These are soft, cake-like, and topped with the best lemony buttercream. These lemon sour cream cookies are a top ten cookie recipe for me, and I make them ALL the time in winter and spring.
No matter who I serve these to, they are hooked after just one bite. They are so easy to make in an afternoon and special enough to bring to a party.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. You can use bottled if you don’t have any on hand, but it won’t be as good. But don’t use lemon extract instead of lemon zest. It gives them an artificial taste. Use the real thing!
Using sour cream here is the whole point, but if you must, you can use Greek yogurt as a substitute. But sour cream gives a better flavor.
This recipe will make 30 cookies. They freeze great (unfrosted), so you can make a big batch and keep some for later. If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- Plastic Wrap
- Electric Mixer
- Baking sheets
- Mixing Bowls
- Rubber spatula
- cooling rack
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter (softened)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
For the frosting
- ¼ cup salted butter (softened)
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
How to Make
Step One: Mix Dry Ingredients
Whisk your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a big bowl. Set that aside.
Step Two: Cream Butter and Sugar
In another bowl, cream your softened butter and sugar with your mixer until it’s light and fluffy. This takes about 3-5 minutes, and yep, it really does make a difference. Add your eggs and keep mixing.
Step Three: Add Wet Ingredients
Now add the sour cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix it all up until it looks combined.
Step Four: Combine Everything
Slowly add your flour mixture, about a cup at a time to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed so you don’t make a mess. The dough will be REALLY soft. Like, softer than you think it should be. That’s perfect.
Step Five: Chill the Dough
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for an hour. I know, waiting is annoying, but this step keeps your cookies from spreading into pancakes.
Step Six: Prep for Baking
When you’re ready to bake, heat your oven to 375°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step Seven: Bake the Cookies
Use a regular tablespoon (not a measuring spoon) to scoop the dough and drop it on your sheets. Space them about 2 inches apart because they do spread a little. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just barely golden. Don’t overbake these – they’ll keep cooking on the hot pan even after you take them out.
Step Eight: Cool Completely
Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. They need to be completely cool before you frost them, or the frosting will melt right off.
Step Nine: Make the Frosting
Beat the butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest together for about 2 minutes until it’s smooth. If you want it a little yellow, add a tiny drop of food coloring.
Step Ten: Frost and Serve
Spread the frosting on each cookie once they’re cool. Done.
Storage Instructions
The frosting will harden in a cool room, but if your kitchen is warm, they won’t stack well. We typically put them in a gallon-sized bag, two layers deep, and pop them in the fridge for up to 5 days. They will last at room temperature for up to 3 days as long as it’s not warm enough to melt the frosting.
Baked and cooled (unfrosted) cookies freeze quite well and are good for up to 3 months. Thaw and frost them when you’re ready.
More Lemon Desserts We Love
- My lemon sheet cake is delicious, moist, and served right out of the pan.
- Old fashioned lemon sugar cookies are great for winter when you want something fresh.
- This blackberry lemon pound cake is moist and tart, but not overly sweet.
- These sour cream cookies melt in your mouth and don’t taste like sour cream.
- Combine a soft cookie with a sweet, fluffy middle, and you get buttercream-filled thumbprint cookies.
Printable Recipe
Lemon Sour Cream Cookies
Equipment
- Plastic Wrap
- Electric Mixer
- Baking sheets
- Mixing Bowls
- Rubber spatula
- cooling rack
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter (softened)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
For the frosting
- ¼ cup salted butter butter (softened)
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Then, set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium-high speed to beat the softened butter, sugar, and eggs until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add wet ingredients. Add the sour cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the butter mixture. Blend on medium-low speed until fully combined.
- Combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, one cup at a time, mixing at low speed until combined. The dough will be very soft.
- Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour to firm up. Towards the end of the chilling time, preheat the oven.
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Then, line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Bake. Using a tablespoon, scoop rounded portions of dough and drop them onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each cookie about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges and bottoms are lightly golden. If baking multiple sheets at once, rotate them halfway through for even baking.
- Cool completely. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- Prepare the lemon frosting. While the cookies cool, make the frosting. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest on medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Frost the cookies. Once the cookies are completely cool, spread a layer of frosting on each cookie. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Love,
I have made these cookies 2 times, each leaving recipients amazed! They were light and fluffy and just enough lemon flavor that both lovers and skeptics enjoyed the flavor. I did not ice them for more of the cookie flavor to come out.