Chewy Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies

Soft and chewy gluten-free lemon cookies with crisp edges and a pop of fresh lemon. These fan-favorite lemon sugar cookies are quick and easy with no chilling required!

Here we have a gluten-free lemon cookie recipe to mark the shifting of micro-seasons from Holiday Winter to New Year Winter (TM). It's a subtle change, one that you might only notice in the baked goods coming out of each, but one that I believe should be celebrated with plenty cookies (both before and after the seasonal shift).

We've left behind the season of peppermint oreos and iced sugar cookies, and find ourselves firmly in the land of citrus.

I'm over here making back fence lemon deals with my neighbor. She leaves a bag of lemons hanging over the fence and I replace it with freshly baked gluten-free lemon cookies. I've got a lot of lemons right now. Consequently, it's time to bake more of these cookies!

The best Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies recipe

I've had a craving for a very specific kind of gluten-free lemon cookie. I'm not looking for soft cakey lemon cookies. I don't want snappy shortbread lemon cookies. Instead, I fancy moist chewy lemon cookies with crisp edges. Like a chewy sugar cookie with an intense lemon burst.

That's exactly what these cookies advertise: sturdy crisp edges with a soft and fluffy, but intensely chewy center and a punch of lemon. Almost like a chocolate chip cookie with bright lemon notes in place of chocolate and molasses.

How do you make soft and fluffy gluten-free cookies with crispy-edges?

The trio of flours with almond flour, sweet rice flour, and tapioca starch each play a role in giving the cookies this perfect texture. Rolling the dough in sugar before baking ensures the crisp crackly edges.

• Almond Flour: Superfine blanched almond flour adds flour bulk without drying out the cookie. It imparts the cookie moisture and a subtle nutty sweetness. It has the added bonus of a neutral color that lets that light lemon yellow color to shine.
  • Substitution: See oat flour option below about a nut-free substitution.
• Sweet Rice Flour: Also called mochiko or glutinous rice flour, sweet rice flour is distinctively different than white rice or brown rice flour. Sweet rice flour is the same flour used to make mochi, and as such, it contributes to the chewiness of the cookie center.
  • Substitutions: While I haven't tried it, if you can't find sweet rice flour or want a grain-free verson, I would replace it by weight with additional tapioca flour. Your bake-time might vary a bit, so keep an eye on the cookies for clues that they're done!
• Tapioca Starch: Like sweet rice flour, tapioca flour offers chewiness, but it also is what helps create the fluffines and crisp edges.
  • Substitution: Substitute by weight with arrowroot starch.

However, if you're more on the soft pillowy cake-side of the lemon cookie camp, bake this exact recipe just 1-2 minutes longer and that's exactly what you'll get.

How to make these gluten-free lemon butter cookies nut-free?

I also developed a nut-free version of this cookie using oat flour in case you can't tolerate nuts. Follow the same recipe instructions, but instead of the flour ratios in the recipe, use these:

• 115g (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) gluten-free oat flour
• 70g (¼ cup + 3 tablespoons) sweet rice flour
• 74g (½ cup + 2.5 tablespoons) tapioca flour

Due to the oat flour, this cookie version will be slightly less yellow and more natural tan-colored than the almond flour variation.

Do you have to chill gluten-free lemon sugar cookie dough?

This gluten-free lemon sugar cookie dough does not need to be chilled to keep them from spreading. Woohoo - you're this much closer to freshly baked lemon cookies!

The dough is soft, but if you find the dough too soft that it's difficult for you to roll it into a ball and toss in sugar, pop the dough into the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling to make it a bit easier.

Can I freeze lemon cookies?

You can absolutely freeze this gluten-free lemon cookie dough if you aren't going to eat them all at once, or you can keep the cookie dough balls in the fridge for up to a week before baking.

When you're ready to bake, bake them straight from the freezer, adding about 2 minutes to the baking time. Note: the longer that you freeze this cookie dough, the thicker/fluffier the cookies will bake up, as they won't spread quite as much straight from the freezer.

If you prefer they spread thinner as pictured here, just bring the dough to room temperature before baking.

Tips for perfect cookies

Whenever I bake cookies - even if I'm using a time-tested recipe - I always start by baking off one tester cookie. That way I know if my parent-brain made any mistakes, or if I need to tweak the recipe. Here are some of my tried and true gluten-free cookie tips!

How to get perfectly even and round cookies?

The first tip for perfectly even and round cookies is to use a cookie scoop to make sure all of your cookies are the same size. For most cookies, including these, I use a medium-sized cookie scoop (that holds 2 tablespoons of dough).

In addition to measuring the dough evenly, you can also use this tip to keep your cookies perfectly round. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, place a large round biscuit cutter or a large glass or mug over each cookie and gently swirl it on all sides to round out the cookie edges.

How to tell when these lemon cookies are done baking?

These cookies are best with slightly underbaked centers for an ultimate chew. First, the cookies will evenly puff up in the oven. At some point between 10-12 minutes, the edges will set. When the cookies are ready, the outer edges will look set and thinner while just the center is puffy, but still a bit under-baked. As soon as the cookies show this appearance, pull them from the oven as they'll continue cooking for a few minutes on the baking sheet as they cool.

Troubleshooting Gluten-Free Cookies

Why don’t my cookies spread enough?

If your cookies don't spread enough there could be a few culprits:

• Flour brand. Did you use the brands of flours recommended in this recipe? Using different brands of flour that have different coarseness of grain could lead to different results. In particular, I find tapioca flour to be one of the most crucial flours to stick with using Bob's Red Mill.
• Too much flour. Did you measure by weight? With gluten-free flours that use just a bit of each kind, it's easy to accidentally use too much flour depending on your method of scooping. I recommend using weight measurements when baking gluten-free recipes. To measure by volume, I lightly scoop the measuring cup into the flour, then scrape the top flat with a knife.
• Chilling. As noted above, if you baked the cookies straight from the freezer or after a long chill, they won't spread quite as much. If you want more spread, bring the cookies to room temperature before baking.

Why do my cookies spread too much?

On the other hand, if your cookies spread too much, here are some troubleshooting tips:

• Butter too soft. If your butter was much too soft when you mixed it with the sugar, your dough will be more soft and more prone to spreading.
• Flour brand or not enough flour. This is the same tip as above. Did you use the recommended brand of flours and measure by weight?
• Baking sheet too warm. Be sure that you're always placing your cookie dough on a room temperature or cool baking sheet, never a warm one!

If you find your cookies are spreading too much, freeze the cookie dough balls for 30 minutes before baking.

What if my dough is too sticky to handle?

If your butter was too soft (maybe it's really hot where you live!) your dough will be soft and you may find it difficult to handle. Pop the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm it up a bit to make it easier for you to roll into balls and toss in sugar.

Recipe

Chewy Gluten-Free Lemon Cookies

yields: 22 -24 cookies

prep time: 15 minutes mins

cook time: 10 minutes mins

total time: 25 minutes mins

Soft and chewy gluten-free lemon cookies with crisp edges. These no-chill gluten-free sugar cookies are bursting with lemon flavor! They'll be your new favorite cookie!

5 from 20 reviews

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Ingredients

• ▢ 120 g (¾ cup) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko, different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour" - I recommend Koda Farms or Bob's Red Mill
• ▢ 105 g (¾ cup + 3 tablespoons) super-fine blanched almond flour, I recommend Bob's red Mill
• ▢ 98 g (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour, I recommend Bob's red Mill
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (182 g) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
• ▢ 1 large egg, room temperature
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon zest, about 1 whole lemon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl for rolling and set aside.
• Sift together sweet rice flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
• Bean in the egg followed by the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter and mix until just combined.
• Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball (a medium cookie scoop). Gently roll the cookie dough into the sugar and place cookie dough 2-inches apart on the baking sheet. Note: your dough may seem a bit soft while rolling, but should hold as a ball just fine. If you'd like, you can chill the dough for 20 minutes to make it easier to roll. Repeat until you fill the baking sheet. See note about freezing the cookie dough below.
• In batches, bake cookies for 10-13 minutes, until just the center is puffed and looks still a bit soft and under-baked, but the edges are set and thinner. If baking just a couple of cookies, they will only need about 10-11 minutes, but if baking a full baking sheet, they will need 11-12 minutes, and if baking a frozen cookie dough ball, they will need 13 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before using a thin cookie spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Optional tip for perfectionists like me: while the cookies are still hot, place a large round biscuit cutter or large cup/mug over the cookies and gently swirl it over the edges to perfectly round the cookie.
• Store cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

Substitutions:

Almond Flour: If you can't have almond flour, replace all the flours in the recipe with this flour combination:

• 115g (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) gluten-free oat flour
• 70g (¼ cup + 3 tablespoons) sweet rice flour
• 74g (½ cup + 2.5 tablespoons) tapioca flour

Sweet Rice Flour: While I haven't tried it, if you can't find sweet rice flour or want a grain-free verson, I would replace it by weight with additional tapioca flour. Your bake-time might vary a bit, so keep an eye on the cookies for clues that they're done!

Tapioca Starch: Substitute by weight with arrowroot starch. You could also try substituting by weight with potato starch (not potato flour), though I've not tested this substitution.