Are you ready for Girl Scout cookie season? This Girl Scout Cookies Lemon Cookies recipe lets you have those delicious lemony treats any time of year!
Do you have a favorite Girl Scout cookie? It’s hard for me to choose but my favorites are the Samoas (also called Caramel DeLights some places, I hear) and the classic Thin Mints.
The Girl Scouts Lemon Cookies are also a top choice for me. They are the cookie I want most when I’m in the mood for a lemon treat. That buttery texture couples with the tart lemon flavor? Swoon.
Lemon Up Cookies
For years, I’ve been buying a box of Lemon Cookies every time one of those green vested girls comes knocking. I just can’t resist. The new Lemon-Ups Cookies the girl scouts are selling this year are supposedly just like the old lemon cookies (Lemonades) but contain a motivational message imprinted on each one. Pretty cool, right?
But, sadly, girl scout cookies aren’t available all year long. Yes, I could buy dozens of boxes to hoard throughout the year (you can even order online) but my freezer only has so much room.
So what’s a girl to do when a lemon cookie craving strikes out of season?
Make your own, of course! This Lemon Up Cookies copycat recipe makes it easy.
And don’t skip the lemon glaze. That sweet icing gives puts these cookies over the top into a category I’m comfortable describing as “heavenly.” The butter cookie itself isn’t too sugary so the lemon glaze adds just the right amount of extra sweetness to make these cookies irresistible.
Girl Scout Lemon Cookie Recipe
This homemade girl scout cookies recipe turned out better than I could have expected. Everything comes together in one bowl (except the glaze) making preparation and clean up a breeze.
The hardest part is going to be having the patience to wait for the dough to chill. After mixing the cookie dough together it needs about 1 hour in the fridge to chill. The finished lemon cookies are more than worth it!
Ingredients At A Glance
Full printable recipe below
- Flour
- Butter
- Salt
- Sugar
- Egg
- Lemon Peel and Juice
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
Directions At A Glance
Full printable recipe below
-
Mix flour and salt, set aside. Beat butter and sugar, then add in egg, lemon peel, lemon extract and food coloring and mix well. Combine wet and dry ingredients.
-
Roll into a log shape. Wrap and chill for one hour.
-
Slice, place on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.
-
Combine ingredients to make glaze, dip cookies into glaze, then allow to dry.
- Enjoy!
Tips for Making Lemon Glaze
You can choose how thick you like your glaze for these lemon cookies. If you like a thinner coating of glaze on your cookie, add more lemon juice a teaspoon full at a time. Likewise, if you like a thick glaze that’s more like a frosting, add a bit more powdered sugar.
I tried the glaze both ways for the cookies and loved them both. Girl Scouts Lemon Cookies bring a little bit of sunshine to your taste buds. Every member of my family liked them, some even more than the other delicious Lemon Cookies I make.
More Lemon Recipes
If you like these copycat Lemon Up Cookies, you will also enjoy my other lemon cookies. Lemon Rolls are always a popular recipe around here, especially for Easter and Mother’s Day. Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf is one of my all time favorites. A slice of that lemony loaf with a nice cup of tea is a divine mid-day break if you ask me. And this easy Lemon Bundt Cake is one of my all time most popular recipes, it’s definitely a reader favorite!
Lemon desserts make me so happy and I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I did.
Girl Scout Cookies Lemon Cookies
Just like the ones you buy from your local scout, this is a buttery cookie with a pop of lemon citrus flavor and topped with lemon glaze.
Homemade Girl Scout Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 standard size sticks
- yellow food coloring
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lemon juice
Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Cookies:
- Mix flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, lemon peel, lemon juice and food coloring, if using. Mix well.
- Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a log about 9 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
- Preheat oven 350°F. Cut dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until very lightly browned around edges. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
- Dip bottom of each cookie into glaze, then gently set cookie with the dipped bottom side up, onto a wire cooling rack to allow glaze to set up.
Lemon Glaze:
- Mix 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and lemon juice. Stir until well combined and smooth. If a thinner glaze is desired, add more lemon juice, a teaspon at a time. If a thicker glaze is desired, add more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Mix utnil smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Katelyn Peterson says
Do I have to use an egg and egg yolk? Any substitutions?
Christi Johnstone says
Katelyn, as nobody in my family has any issues with eggs, I don’t have any experience using a replacement for eggs, sorry.
Patricia says
Hello
Can you freeze the dough and make the cookies the day after or two days after?
Thanks
Christi Johnstone says
Patricia, I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe. If you are waiting a day, I’d just suggest placing them in the fridge, not the freezer.
Patricia says
Hello,
Can you freeze the dough? I need to make quite a few biscuits and I need to have some things ready on advance
Thanks
Christi Johnstone says
I haven’t tried with this recipe, but I assume it would be fine.
alana johnson says
I’m very confused as to how much butter i’m supposed to use.
Christi Johnstone says
3/4 cup 🙂
Charlie says
I baked these cookies with my grandma. I made about 2.5 times the amount of lemon glaze so that I could glaze both sides of the cookies for an extra special treat. These taste similar to the Girl Scout cookies after sitting in the fridge, but in my opinion they’re better. Not as crunchy as Girl Scout cookies but I don’t mind. I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone who enjoys the Girl Scout lemon cookies.
Debra D Fisher says
These were AMAZING! Even better than girl scout lemon ups (which I love)! I used a firm packed, 1.5 Tablespoons lemon zest because I love lemon flavor. I did not use food coloring. We tried them with and without the glaze and preferred them without glaze. Also, I think the recipe has a typo. If it is a 9 inch roll it should be sliced into 3/4 inch slices (not 1/4 inch). Unfortunately I didn’t think about this until part way through the roll so I had to add bits of dough back to make 12 cookies (for 1 roll), 24 cookies total. Mine baked the full 15 minutes. Delicious! I’m trying to review it 5 starts but it isn’t saving!
Zari says
I really went to make these cookies but I’m at a loss in regards to the lemon peel. Do I grate a lemon? I’m sorry this is probably stupid question
Christi Johnstone says
Zari, check out this post for details on lemon peel. Also if you just aren’t able to zest a lemon, you can skip it. The lemon flavor will be reduced but they will still be delicious.
Becky Bergman says
Oh my goodness – these look super yummy (I’m not a big cookie fan, but I LOVE lemon cake – I know, weird!). I’m going to make these and let you know what I think – you probably saw I was on the hunt for girl scout-inspired cookie ideas. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Christi Johnstone says
Becky, you are so welcome! Lemon cake is a favorite of mine, it really is irresistible!
Patricia says
Hi,
What type of flour do you use in this recipe? All purpose? Or cake flour?
Is it possible to gave the recipe in grams?
Thank you very much from Spain
Christi Johnstone says
Hi Patricia, just regular all-purpose flour. I don’t measure in grams so I’m afraid I can’t advise. Maybe one of the online recipe calculator converters can help in figuring that out. Good luck!
Rick says
Taste like the real deal… only better.
Seriously… you need to make these.