I’ve been making these for years now and have the recipe dialed in. I was looking for a lighter, easy to eat cookie that had barely a little bit of resistance and then a nice smooth bite through. These are exactly that: gooey center, thin crispy shell, and a lemon-citrus flavor that people always ask about. They’re quick to prep, easy to bake, and visually appealing, which makes them perfect for bringing to events. They do need to chill in the fridge (ideally overnight for the best flavor), so plan ahead.

🧈 Ingredients

Ingredient	Volume	Grams
Unsalted butter, room temp	1/2 cup (1 stick)	113g
Cream cheese, room temp	1 package (8oz)	227g
Fresh lemon zest	1 1/2 tsp	-
Fresh lemon juice	1 tbsp	-
Granulated sugar	1 1/2 cups	297g
Eggs, room temp	2	-
Lemon extract	1 tsp	-
Vanilla extract	1 tsp	-
Fiori di Sicilia	1/4 tsp	-
All-purpose flour (King Arthur)	2 1/4 cups	270g
Powdered sugar, divided	1 cup	113g
Baking powder	3 tsp	12g
Salt	1/4 tsp	-

🍪 Instructions

Wet mix

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.
2. Add the granulated sugar and mix until creamy.
3. Add the eggs, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and Fiori di Sicilia. Mix until light and fluffy.

Dry mix

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar (56g), baking powder, and salt.
5. Gradually add the dry mix into the wet mix, stirring until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Chill

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. 30 minutes minimum, overnight for the best flavor.

Bake

7. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (not silicone, parchment gives better edges and the cookies spread less).
8. Using an ice cream scoop (one with a lever works great), scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Drop it into the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar (56g) and roll until well coated.
9. Place on the baking sheet with room to spread. Press each ball down slightly with your thumb to flatten into a disc, this gives a more uniform shape and bakes more consistently.
10. Bake for 11-13 minutes total. Halfway through, rotate the tray 180 degrees.
11. About 2 minutes before the end time, move the tray to the top rack to crisp the tops (turn on convection if you have it). Check every minute after that, looking for golden brown edges to start forming. Pull them as soon as that caramelization is clearly established.
12. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. They’ll be very gooey straight out of the oven and need time to set up.

👀 Tips

Watch the sugar. There’s a lot of sugar in and on these cookies, and sugar burns quickly. Start checking early and don’t walk away near the end of the bake time. You want the initial caramelization on the edges without burning any of the powdered sugar coating.

Sticky dough? If the dough sticks to your hands when rolling, coat your hands in powdered sugar.

Storage. Airtight container at room temperature for about a week. After that, move them to the fridge for another week or so.