These Lemon Sour Cream Cookies are insanely good! The sour cream added into my favorite lemon sugar cookie recipe makes for the softest zingy cookies.
Lemon Sour Cream Cookies
Two of my favorite things in this world are sugar cookies and lemons, so these lemon sour cream cookies are everything I need and more!
Believe me, I think I could eat a whole tray of my classic Delicious Sugar Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, but something about the lemon in this lemon sugar cookie recipe is world-changing!
I have so many memories of cutting out cookies with my mother and grandmother and having so much fun. I love that this recipe helps me share that memory with my kids!
We sure don’t mind eating them either. These cookies have the perfect amount of bright lemon flavor to compliment the sweetness and the sour cream in the dough makes them ultra soft!
Even though it’s a rolled cookie recipe, you don’t need piles of flour all over your counter (and of course all over your clothes, kids, faces, ceiling, etc.). All you need is some parchment paper to cut your cookies out, which makes it so much more kid-proof!
Lemon Sour Cream Cookies Recipe
These lemon sour cream cookies are such a fun recipe to make as a family without making a huge mess. If you are a lemon fan, you’ve got to try these!
Ingredients
For the dough:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled
For the frosting:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Some additional tools you may need:
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters
- Stand mixer or Hand mixer
How to Make Lemon Sour Cream Cookies
Don’t forget to download the full printable recipe below so you can print it out and use it whenever you feel like making this delicious recipe!
- To make your lemon cookies, start by creaming together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, and sour cream and mix again until well incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
- Grab two pieces of parchment paper and place them each on the counter.
- Divide the finished dough in half and place each half on a sheet of the prepared parchment paper.
- Place a second sheet of parchment paper on one half of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to just over ¼ inch thick.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough and place both sheets of dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or fridge for 30 minutes.
- When the dough is firm, you can preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dip your desired shapes of cookie cutters into flour to help with sticking and cut out as many cookies as you can between both halves of dough.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the edges are firm and start to turn golden brown.
- Remove the cookies and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.
- While your first batch of cookies bakes, press the remaining dough scraps together and roll in the same way as before between the two sheets of parchment. Chill again until firm.
- When the dough is firm again, cut out as many cookies as you can and toss the scraps of dough.
- Bake and cool your second batch as you did the first.
- While the cookies cool, you can make your frosting by adding the butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk to a mixing bowl.
- Beat the frosting ingredients for 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
- When the cookies are cooled, spread the frosting on and enjoy!
Tips Tricks and FAQs
- The thicker you roll out your dough, the softer your cookies will be. So if you want a crisper cookie, roll it closer to ¼ inch and if you want a softer cookie you can roll it as thick as ½ inch thick. I personally love a soft cookie so I always roll mine on the thicker side.
- You want your dough to be completely flat after you roll it out, so it makes things easier if you place your dough on a baking sheet or large cutting board so it can lay evenly while it chills. Placing it on something hard also allows it to be transferred so much easier.
- Rolled cookie dough could be a little tricky because you don’t want to roll it too many times or it becomes tough instead of soft and light. I always try to get my cookies close together to try to maximize how much dough you can use. You can re-roll the dough out once, but I’d recommend tossing the scraps after that instead of rolling it out again so that it stays perfectly light and fluffy!
- These cookies don’t get better than when you soak them with a lemon glaze before you frost them. So delicious! To make a simple lemon glaze, just mix together ½ cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest until smooth.
Storage
If your cookies are unfrosted, store them at room temperature for up to 5 days. If your cookies are frosted, they will last about the same amount of time but you’ll want to keep them in the fridge to keep them fresh.
How do I scoop and level my flour?
When you are measuring things in cups instead of by weight, you’ll want to pay attention to any directions to make sure that you get the amount correctly.
For this recipe, you should scoop and level your flour. To do this, use a spoon to gently scoop flour into the measuring cup until it’s overflowing. Use a flat knife to tap the top of the cup so that you can release any air bubbles, then scrape the excess flour off the top of the cup.
More Easy Recipes
- Easy M&M Cookies With Chocolate Chips
- How to Make Delicious Whoopie Pie Cookies
- No-Bake Cherry Bomb Cookies
- The Best Brown Butter Cookies
- The Best Hot Chocolate Cookies
Did you make this? Let us know how it went in the comments!
Lemon Sour Cream Cookies
These Lemon Sour Cream Cookies are insanely good! The sour cream added into my favorite lemon sugar cookie recipe makes for the softest zingy cookies.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- To make your lemon cookies, start by creaming together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, and sour cream and mix again until well incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
- Grab two pieces of parchment paper and place them each on the counter.
- Divide the finished dough in half and place each half on a sheet of the prepared parchment paper.
- Place a second sheet of parchment paper on one half of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to just over ¼ inch thick.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough and place both sheets of dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or fridge for 30 minutes.
- When the dough is firm, you can preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dip your desired shapes of cookie cutters into flour to help with sticking and cut out as many cookies as you can between both halves of dough.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the edges are firm and start to turn golden brown.
- Remove the cookies and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.
- While your first batch of cookies bakes, press the remaining dough scraps together and roll in the same way as before between the two sheets of parchment. Chill again until firm.
- When the dough is firm again, cut out as many cookies as you can and toss the scraps of dough.
- Bake and cool your second batch as you did the first.
- While the cookies cool, you can make your frosting by adding the butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk to a mixing bowl.
- Beat the frosting ingredients for 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
- When the cookies are cooled, spread the frosting on and enjoy!
Michele is a mom of 5 with her degree in marriage and family studies. She believes that one of the best ways you can spend time with your family is doing fun things together.