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Easy Lemon Meltaways – the perfect little bite of lemon!
Lemon Meltaways ~ Light and buttery, these lemon bite-sized cookies are a real treat!
Do you think if I post bright lemony recipes like these Lemon Meltaways, spring will come early? Probably not but it’s nice to dream.
The forecast is calling for -4 degrees tomorrow night, we have about 7 inches of snow on the ground and a cold front coming in. I’m really not complaining because we’ve all wished for a good snow this year.
Now that we’ve had our snow – I’m ready for blooming dogwood trees, tiny tomato plants in the garden, asparagus peaking out from the frozen ground and I can’t wait to go camping and kayaking again!
It seems like it has been a long, long winter. But who wants to talk about the cold when there are delicious, lemony, melt-in-your-mouth cookies to share?!?
Zest only the yellow outer skin of the lemon, and no white pith.
If you get carried away with your zesting, you may end up with a bitter taste instead of the bright lemon sunshine flavor you’re looking for.
I always use organic lemons and oranges when planning to include the zest in a recipe. Call me crazy but I can still taste the pesticides. Organic or not, you should always wash your citrus with a vinegar solution or soap and water. Be sure to rinse and dry the lemons before zesting and only remove the outer layer.
Each lemon is different. Some are thick skinned while other are not. Different growing regions produce varied sizes of lemons, as well. I prefer the smaller, thin skinned lemons for zesting. The flavor seems better to me but I have no scientific proof to back that up.
Lemon Meltaways are easy to make with just a few pantry ingredients.
These truly do melt in your mouth and are similar in texture to a buttery shortbread cookie. The lemon brightens the cookie and gives it an irresistible freshness.
Simple to make with just a few pantry ingredients they come together in no time. Roll the dough into balls or flatten into discs and bake until barely browned around the edges.
These lemon meltaways can be presented several ways.
The warm, baked cookies can be tossed immediately in powdered sugar like a Russian Tea Cake or Mexican Wedding Cookie. If planning to serve this way, there’s no need to flatten the cookie before baking. You can leave them in a ball shape.
My favorite way to serve these cookies is with a lemon drizzle.
The lemon icing really adds a lot of lemon flavor to the meltaway cookies. The icing is easy to make and drizzle or spread on the baked, cooled cookies. The glaze can be spread on thick or drizzled on a little thinner – it’s all up to you! Either way, you’ll have a memorable lemon experience!
Lemon Meltaways are bite-sized treats that freeze beautifully!
Rolling the cookies into a small single-bite size treat makes it super easy to pop them in your mouth. Not overly sweet, these cookies are the perfect light ending to any meal.
Can you substitute other kinds of citrus for the lemon?
Feel free to substitute lime, key lime or orange for the lemon in these cookies. We’ve made Coconut Key Lime Meltaways with great success and enjoy Peppermint Meltaways during the holiday seasons too. I hope you’ll give these cookies a try. Enjoy!
Thanks for PINNING!
Lemon Meltaways
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar (57g)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest packed - about 2 lemons (no white pith)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (196g)
- ¼ cup cornstarch (4 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar (115g)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus more if needed for desired consistency
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Gently blend on low until incorporated, scrapping down sides with a spatula as needed.
- In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, cornstarch and salt. Whisk together.
- Add the flour in four batches to the creamed butter and lemon mixture. Blend on medium low until each is incorporated.
- Place the cookie dough in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- To bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop a level spoonful of dough using a 1-inch cookie scoop. Roll each into a tight ball and place two inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- If you want to make cookie discs, press each dough ball to the desired thickness using the bottom of a flat glass covered with a small piece of wax paper.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Slide the parchment paper and baked cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat with a new piece of parchment paper placed on a cooled cookie sheet. Cool cookies completely if using a glaze. If covering in confectioners' sugar, allow the hot cookies to cool for a minute then toss in 1 cup of powdered sugar to coat. Cool completely on the wire rack.
- To make the glaze, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice. Add more lemon juice or sugar as needed to reach desired consistency. Spread on each cookie and garnish with lemon zest if desired.
- Allow the glaze to fully set then store cookies in a cool place or refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
- Cookies can be frozen before adding the lemon glaze. They'll keep for up to two months well sealed.
- Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Nutrition
Here are a few more of our favorite Meltaway Cookie recipes you might also enjoy:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Meltaway Cookies – for the chocolate and peanut butter lover in your life! These light little bite-sized cookies are not too sweet and get a nice salty bite from the crushed roasted peanuts. Click HERE for the Peanut Butter Chocolate Meltaway Cookie Recipe.
Coconut Key Lime Meltaways – a light and buttery bite-sized cookie with a big tropical flavor. Click HERE for the Coconut Key Lime Meltaway recipe.
Lucy Collins
Yucky
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Lucy.
Kendall G.
These cookies are so delicious! I wanted to share that I made them with gluten free flour (I used the good&gather 1-to-1 mix) and vegan butter in the same amounts and they turned out fantastic.
I have dreams of trying a lime version next with crushed freeze-dried cherries mixed into the dough.
Thanks for your amazing and easy recipe!!!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Kendall! The lime and cherry version sounds fantastic. Thanks for commenting and happy baking.
Patrick
How long will these last if not put in the freezer?
Tricia Buice
Hi Patrick. These keep well for about 3 days at room temperature. You can refrigerate them for up to a week. Enjoy!
kennedy
theyyy are so good I am 16 and trying to make my own buissness and I made theses cookies and my whole family loved them I will for sure use these cookies when I start my buissness
Tricia Buice
So glad you enjoyed them Kennedy. Thanks for letting us know and good luck on your business!
Char.
Where did the other 1/2 cup of powdered sugar go? The ingredients call for 1 cup but the directions say to add 1/2 cup.
Tricia Buice
Hi Char. The entire recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. One-half a cup is used in the cookie dough while the remaining 1 cup is used for the glaze. These measurements are separated on the printable recipe card. Hope this helps! Thanks for try this recipe.
Lyman Zerga
Very crumbly.
Tricia Buice
Sounds like you might have over-measured your flour Lyman. Hope you’ll try again sometime.
Kaye
I haven’t made the recipe yet but have a question. A cup and a half of my flour is 180 grams. Should I go by the metric measurement in the recipe or the 1.5 cups?
Thank you.
Tricia Buice
I would use the weight measurement for sure. My flour came out a little more at 196g but 180g should work perfectly. Enjoy!
Liam L
I did everything by hand lol same results, mostly cause I’m used to whisking stiff peaks by hand XD This recipe is great and it’s also versatile. I used lime and orange, and I plan to try yuzu next. I’m not sure how things will work without the acidity of the citrus, but I want to try blackberries too. I’ll figure it out lol thanks for the recipe, I love anything I can play around with.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Liam!
Shego
I made this recipe for a bake sale and I couldn’t send the cookies because they were so horrible. The baked cookies were so delicate they crumbled in my hand. The flavor was off and the texture was like dust. Did you bake these cookies before posting this recipe? I followed the posted recipe exactly and the cookies were a complete flop.
Tricia Buice
Sorry you had trouble Shego. Sounds like you must have over-measured the flour. Yes I have made these cookies many, many times and used the base recipe for other cookie recipes too. It’s a solid recipe as you can tell from all the reviews.
Jimmy
Shego, You should not rate this recipe one star. It is a five-star recipe. The one-star rating aptly applies to your baking competency. Actually, one-star for you is being generous, should be a negative digit rating for you, Shego. 🙂
Suzy
Awesome cookies!!! They really do “melt in your mouth”! One of hubby’s favorites… and mine, too. Love that delicious robust lemon flavor. Easy to make for such an impressive looking & tasting cookie! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Suzy! We truly appreciate the feedback.
Paula Timpson
Fun , real lemony
Great taste !
My husband adores these cookies
I’ll make more
Thank You
Love the name too
It fits!! They do melt and are memorable and pretty easy
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Paula!
Yuliya
I’ve lost count how many times I’ve made these cookies – they are so easy to make and absolutely delicious! They have been my “go to” dessert for all kinds of occasions, and the tray gets cleared fast 😂
I’ve learned they keep their shape best if refrigerated for a bit before serving.
Tricia Buice
Thank you Yuliya!
Ana
I absolutely adore this recipe! I had been searching for a delightful lemon dessert recipe when I stumbled upon your website. The appetizing pictures on your site caught my attention, and I couldn’t contain my excitement to give it a try. However, my eagerness got the better of me, and I couldn’t resist devouring the cookies before they had a chance to cool down. Sadly, they turned out crumbly and bitter, leaving me feeling disappointment. However, instead of giving up on them, I decided to refrigerate them overnight. The next day to my delight, they transformed into mouthwatering delight, bursting with amazing flavors. I couldn’t resist the temptation and ended up devouring seven of the in one sitting– I simply couldn’t stop myself! Now I’m looking forward to making another batch soon.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Ana. Make sure you don’t over measure the flour to prevent dry cookies.
Momostenango
Cookies are yummy, but be aware that if you change the quantity, the measurements don’t always follow through (4TB cornstarch stayed the same for 18 cookies at 36 and the measurements didn’t change in the text of the recipe.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Maureen. I see what you’re talking about on the measurements. The measurements noted in parentheses is something I add manually for those that want to use a scale or other measurements other thanks cups. This is not something I can fix but appreciate you letting me know.
Holly Potter
Hi, how much is 14tbsp of butter in grams please? I find it such a waste of time and butter to be scooping it out with a spoon 😂.
Thanks so much, looking forward to making these!
Holly
Tricia Buice
Hi Holly. Stick butter is usually marked with the tablespoons noted on the package so I just slice off what I need while it’s cold. However, I calculated it for you and found that 14 tablespoons of butter is 197.75 grams or 7 ounces. Hope that helps!
Monika
Thanks for the conversion for the butter, I was wondering the same, many countries do not have the tablespoon measurements noted on the package.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for trying the recipe Monika. Enjoy!