No-Butter Soft Lemon Cookies
Hi. A - lemon. B - cookies.
I rest my case.
I know, I know, I just posted a lemon dessert two weeks ago, an amazing soft and moist lemon loaf.
What can I say? I really like baked goods with lemon in them. And spring conjures up images of bright, sunny, cheerful things. Like lemons. So it was an unconscious urge as well.
Come to think of it, posting these No-Butter Soft Lemon Cookies was barely a decision I made of my own volition. Instinct kicked in.
The heart wants what it wants. And my heart wanted cookies. With lots of fresh lemon flavor in them. That were soft and chewy. And rich. But also didn't contain any butter. You see where I'm going?
My no-butter dessert series is still going strong. So is my coconut oil addiction. Just have a look at the recipe index, the cookie section specifically. See for yourself.
I like cookies that don't contain any butter because firstly, that means they won't taste buttery. Which is a taste I don't always appreciate. Unless we're talking about brown butter. That I do appreciate. Very much.
No-butter also means I'm probably using coconut oil. Which is my favorite oil to bake with. It makes my cookies rich and dense and flavorful and delicious. And still un-coconut tasting. Because I use refined coconut oil.
So yeah. These no-butter soft lemon cookies, or coconut oil soft lemon cookies, are super soft. My titles don't lie. And chewy. And so easy and quick to prepare. And full of fresh lemon flavor. And so rich and gooey and dense from the coconut oil.
And also thick. Which is proven otherwise in these photos. I've tweaked this recipe since photographing these cookies because I wasn't happy with how flat they turned out, so the recipe below produces cookies that are a lot thicker than the cookies you see depicted here. Promise.
Just like with my soft and moist lemon loaf, I didn't mess around when it came to the lemon flavor here. These cookies have lemon zest. And lemon juice. And lemon rind. All the lemon, basically.
And the tart lemon flavor balanced with the sweet, soft batch cookie dough is blissful. Raw or baked. I've tried both ways. And tried might be too delicate a word.
Here's how you make the cookies: prepare the simple cookie dough, round tablespoons of dough between your palms, space them onto your baking sheets, pop the trays into the oven, set your timer for 9 minutes, dream about the cookies that will be in your mouth in 9 minutes, remove the trays from the oven, and proceed to devour the cookies.
No waiting for butter to come to room temperature, no chilling the dough in the fridge, and no multiple utensils to clean up after.
If that's not "winning," I honestly don't know what is.
If you're wondering what the texture of these cookies is like, think of a crinkle cookie. These lemon cookies have that soft, melt-in-your mouth texture of a crinkle cookie, without being rolled in confectioner's sugar, which I find is usually unnecessary and makes my cookies too sweet.
But also think about a soft batch chocolate chip cookie. The ones that usually have vanilla pudding in them to give them that soft, almost doughy texture. These lemon cookies have that texture two. They're a cross between a crinkle cookie and a soft batch cookie.
I mean, just look at that gooey pile above. It speaks where words fail me.
As I write this, I keep scrolling up and staring at that close-up pile of no-butter soft lemon cookie halves. And that mound of lemon cookies is inspiring me to write a poem:
Soft and gooey,
Rich and chewy,
Thick and dense,
Feasting, commence.
I really, very sincerely hope you enjoyed that poem. And though I know this might sound crazy, I think it's safe to say that you'll enjoy eating one of these lemon cookies even more.
no-butter soft lemon cookies
Yield: 20-22 cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil*, softened but not melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the coconut oil and sugar until light and fluffy. *Use refined coconut oil if you don't want any coconut flavor in your cookies and unrefined coconut oil if you don't mind the coconut taste.
Add the egg, extracts, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the machine and cream mixture till light and fluffy again. It's okay if mixture looks curdled.
Stir together the dry ingredients and add to the machine, mixing until just combined.
Round a little over a tablespoon of dough between your palms and place onto baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough, leaving space between each cookie. Do not flatten.
Bake cookies 9-11 minutes, or until the tops are cracked and the bottoms are just lightly golden.
On a completely unrelated note, the agony:
photo from dump a day dot com
