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A small wooden plate filled with lemon meltaway cookies

Lemon Meltaways – a delicious little cookie

5 from 149 votes

Light and buttery, these bite-sized lemon cookies are a real treat!

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Easy Lemon Meltaways – the perfect little bite of lemon!

A wooden bowl of lemon meltaway cookies with icing on top

 

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?!?

a bowl of lemons and lemon zest on a cutting board

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.

A red bowl of cookie dough with dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

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.

lemon meltaway cookie dough pressed to flatten with the bottom of a small glass

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.

Lemon meltaway cookies on a cooling rack being drizzled with lemon icing

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!

A wooden bowl of lemon meltaway cookies with icing on top

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.

A wooden bowl of lemon meltaway cookies with icing on top

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!

A wooden plate filled with iced lemon cookies

Lemon Meltaways

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 33 minutes
Yield: 36
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Author: Tricia
Pin RecipePrint RecipeRate Recipe
5 from 149 votes
Light and buttery, these bite-sized lemon cookies are a real treat!

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 information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 81kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 17mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 136IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

 

Here are a few more of our favorite Meltaway Cookie recipes you might also enjoy:

A stack of peanut butter chocolate meltaway cookies with chopped peanuts on top

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.

 

A plate full of Coconut Key Lime Meltaway Cookies with flaked coconut and lime zest on top

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.

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234 Comments

  2. Gail P

    Our family gathers often and I like to bring a container of assorted cookies. I make cookies and freeze some so I don’t have to bake when something comes up. I made these cookies this morning and oh my goodness…they are delicious! So delicate and light and bursting with flavor. I did add about 2 tbsp more powdered sugar to the dough but otherwise followed your recipe. The only thing I would do differently is double the recipe because I’m not sure how many of these are going to make it to the freezer! Thank you for posting this recipe. Going to make the peanut butter chocolate ones next.

    Reply

  3. Laura S

    5 stars
    Made these with wheat flour, cuz that’s what I had. They are fantastic!! Melt in your mouth delicious! Oh wait… maybe that’s why they’re called “melt always” :0}

    Reply

  4. Christine

    5 stars
    I absolutely loved these cookies and everyone I shared them with did too. I like that the cookie itself isn’t overly sweet and the tangy sweetness of the glaze is perfect. I’m not a huge sweet eater so these are the right size for me to just have one or two to take the edge off needing to have something sweet, without feeling guilty for eating a lot of some thing I shouldn’t. As an FYI I am typically a terrible baker, yet these turned out beautifully, which means the recipe a solid if you follow it. I do think it’s important to add slightly more powdered sugar to the glaze because I did find the recipe makes The glaze a little on the thin side for me. I literally make this recipe once a week, and they are gone in less than four hours every time. Everybody loves them!

    Reply

  7. Venya

    Can I make these bigger with the same ingredients? How big were they in the video? I want to take these to school for a class party.

    Reply

  9. Ellen Radomski

    These cookies are delicious but the next time I make them there will not be 3 dozen cookies. The cookies are way too small and they crumble with two bits. Yours in the photo were a larger cookie. How many cookies in your batch?

    Reply

  10. Cindi

    My lemon melt away cookies just bubbled and melted away to almost nothing. I couldn’t even lift them in one piece off the parchment paper. Maybe I needed more flour?

    Reply

  12. Dametrious Damarcus Bartholomew James |||

    5 stars
    Looks delicious, but I ran out of powdered sugar. I wish you could make these without powdered sugar or somthing. 🙂

    Reply

    • Christine

      I’ve actually made this recipe using Splenda instead of the icing sugar for the cookie recipe and they still turned out great. I still use icing sugar for the glaze because it needs it but was happy to see I could substitute for less sugar with Splenda without any issues!

      Reply

  13. Teresa Williams

    Thanks for sharing these cookies, pies, cakes and other lemony desserts sound amazing. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Hi Addison. If these cookies taste a little bitter, that means you zested too much of the lemons. Never include the white pith when zesting lemons as it will ruin the flavor. Hope you’ll try again!

      Reply

  15. Dani

    4 stars
    I’m not a huge fan of lemon but was looking for a light cookie to offset a heavy chocolate dessert option. Initially I was not a fan. I followed the recipe to a T but it just didn’t have a wow factor. Well…. since I didn’t need them for a few days I put them in a container with a piece of bread like I usually do to keep my cookies fresh. I tried one before serving just to see if I was gonna toss them or put them out and was amazed. They ended up tasting exactly how they are probably supposed to and very “melty”. So my recommendation would be to make a few days ahead of time, stick some bread in with them and try not to eat all of them the day you want to serve them.

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Hi Dani. Thanks for the feedback. I’ve never had to put bread in the container with these cookies. The flavors meld after a few hours and the glaze/icing seems to have the same affect as the bread. Glad you enjoyed them even though you’re not a huge fan of lemon!

      Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Make sure you’re measuring your flour correctly. These cookies should not be dry. Perhaps you over-baked them a little? The lemon flavor is subtle but not bland. Sorry you had trouble with them Lyndi.

      Reply

  17. Raquel Fernandez

    5 stars
    Made these cookies today for my family, and they are sooo good. Seriously the best lemon cookie I’ve ever had. I will definitely make these again and again. Also glad I found another way to put all these lemons from our tree to good use. Thank you!

    Reply

  20. christine

    5 stars
    delicious and easy! i cut this recipe in half on my first try and will probably use a little less lemon juice for the glaze so that it’s less runny (that, or more powdered sugar). but otherwise great!!!

    Reply