Lemon Shortbread Cookies

These delicious cookies are a twist on our very popular lemon shortbread recipe. Today, we're transforming it into sweet, buttery cookies that will snap when you bite them.

That's thanks to the powdered sugar in the dough, creating melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies.

Traditional shortbread is the magical result of mixing 3 ingredients: sugar, butter, and flour. It's a versatile dough that can be used for many recipes, especially bars that need a sturdy base, like the honey walnut squares.

Considering the few ingredients needed, it accepts many variations flavor-wise.

Steps to make glazed shortbread cookies

Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier. 

Use a bowl and a spatula (like I do) or an electric mixer. You can use a stand mixer, but I only recommend it if you're doubling or tripling the recipe.

Mixing the dough

• Soft butter: it's important to have it at the right temperature so it mixes well with the rest of the ingredients. Soft or room temperature does not mean melted or almost melted. The butter should be soft but rather cool and not too shiny on the brink of melting.
• Add flavorings: both lemon juice and lemon zest are added to the butter mixture to give it as much lemon flavor as you want. If you want a deeper flavor, use some pure lemon extract, maybe ¼ teaspoon, in addition to the fresh lemon.

Creaming: make sure the butter and sugar are well integrated. To achieve this more easily, sift the confectioners' sugar before adding it so you remove any lumps that may have formed. If using a spatula, you'll have to scrape or slide both ingredients until they're well incorporated and no sugar spots remain.

Adding the flour: integrate well, but don't overbeat or overwork the dough. It might feel like there's too much flour, but keep at it. I like to make it by hand because there's little chance of overworking it. If using an electric mixer, use the lowest speed when incorporating the flour.

Final dough: it's soft and firm. Don't be tempted to knead it or mix it much until it's completely smooth as that might lead to tougher cookies.

Resting: after the dough has come together and no dry spots remain, wrap it in plastic wrap or use freezer sheets like I do, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Rolling and cutting

• Cold dough: always start with a cold dough and a lightly floured surface
• Extra flour: only sprinkle a little if needed. It's a soft dough that shouldn't stick to the working surface and is easy to roll.

How thick should you roll the cookie dough? I recommend around ¼ inch, no more than that.

What shape can you make? I use cookie cutters with clean geometric forms (circles or rectangles) or that have a simple flower pattern. In theory, you can use any cookie cutter, though I have never tried very intricate ones.

Baking shortbread cookies

• Cold dough: if you took too long to roll and cut and the dough lost too much temperature, or you have something else in the oven, put the baking sheet in the refrigerator while you wait. Cold shortbread cookies into a preheated oven, that's what you want to do.
• Preparing the baking sheet: use soft butter or parchment paper.
• Oven temperature: you must bake them at the temperature stated in the instructions, which is slightly lower than regular cookies. It will give you the best results.
• Keep an eye on them: they bake quickly, so don't put them in the oven and go do something else without setting a timer. Mine usually take no more than 10 minutes and tend to be lightly colored, especially around the edges.

Simple lemon glaze

A powdered sugar glaze (or icing) is all you need.

• Only 2 ingredients: powdered sugar and lemon juice.
• Lemon glaze: we use lemon juice, of course, because we're making lemon cookies, and it will give them an extra citrus boost.
• How thin or thick should it be? For these cookies, we like a thin drizzle of glaze that will drip after it's poured (image below), creating a rather thin coating. We want the cookies to shine and not be smothered by too much sweetness.
• Lemon zest: grating fresh zest on the wet glaze will add flavor and be visually appealing.

We have a post about powdered sugar glaze if you want more details and tips.