Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do sugar cookies taste lemony? ›

Lemon Sugar Cookie Dough

In the first step, adding lemon zest with the sugar and butter ensures that the mixing process will work on the zest to release those citrusy lemon flavors. Fresh lemon juice is also added in a later step with the vanilla and egg.

As lemon extract has a much more concentrated flavor, you'll need to use double the amount of lemon juice as lemon extract.

Unlike many things in the baking world, sugar cookies are meant to be foolproof. They don't have much butter or leavening, so they'll keep their shape when you roll out the dough and cut them. They're sturdy enough to be handled and decorated, but soft and delicious enough to be a Christmastime dessert staple.

The ingredients you used could be the culprit – using different sugars, melted butter, baking powder or baking soda can alter a cookie's texture and taste.

If you're making your own sugar cookie dough, try a different extract — like almond, peppermint, or citrus — instead of vanilla for a flavor change. You can even add finely grated fresh citrus zest for flecks of beautiful color and a nice pop of flavor.

you can add extracts. for example peppermint or almond or you can add chocolate chips or dried fruit. Every time I make sugar cookies, regardless of the recipe, the dough always turns out way too crumbly to roll into a ball. I always end up adding a lot more butter than is called for.

When baking powder is mixed with lemon juice, bubbles formed because of evolution of carbon dioxide gas. This is a chemical change, because in this reaction new substances are formed.

To balance flavors: Lemon juice can play a great balancing role in baked goods. We sometimes use it in our cookies to balance out a sweet flavor profile. For instance, our CAVA Apricot Cookies contain a small amount of lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the honey-flavored cookie dough.

Lemon juice naturally contains citric acid which quickly reacts with the base present in the baking powder producing CO2 and sodium citrate. This may lead to undesirable flavors and poor crust color due to lower pH of the product after baking.

Chilling the dough is a key step in making sugar cookies, especially when you're making cut-outs. Even if you're tight on time, make sure to get the dough in the fridge, or even the freezer, even if it's only for a little while. Skip this step, and the dough will be sticky, and much harder to work with.

Are sugar cookies better with butter or shortening? ›

Which One Should I Use in Cookies? Basically, cookies made with butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough. However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening. Cookies made with shortening bake up taller and are more tender, but aren't as flavorful.

Sugar cookies baked on shiny heavy gauge aluminum pans will come out soft and chewy, with a slight golden color bottom and pale top. Chef Eddy also recommends using parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking and for easy cleanup.

Bake Club claims that over-baking, or even baking shortbread on too high a heat, can cause the butter to burn, leading to a sour or pungent aftertaste in the cookies.

What do they taste like? These Sugar Cookies are buttery and sweet (but not too sweet), and they have a lovely melt-in-your-mouth texture. They taste similar to shortbread but with a strong vanilla flavour.

Remember also that too much baking soda in a recipe and not enough acid will still result in a soapy, metallic taste in the baked good. Thus, getting the right amount of baking soda in your baking is important, we don't want soapy tasting cakes!

Baking powder and baking soda, on their own, do have a weird taste. They are chemical leavening agents after all. A cake recipe takes this into account and uses the quantity necessary for leavening without going overboard. Also flavourings are added.