These strawberry lemonade cookies are filled with a delightful combination of flavors from the zesty lemon and sweet strawberry jam. What I love most about these cookies is that they have a soft, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. They’re easy to make in just 25 minutes and are a favorite at my house!
This post contains helpful tips and tricks! If you’re in a rush, please use the “Jump to Recipe” above!
💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfect for any season. Since we’re using strawberry jam instead of fresh strawberries, you can make these cookies all year round.
- Foolproof recipe. This recipe is super simple and hard to mess up. You can make it even if you’re a beginner at baking.
- No cake mix. This recipe is made with simple ingredients from scratch and doesn’t use any strawberry cake mix.
📋 Ingredients and notes
To make this strawberry lemon cookie recipe, you’ll need unsalted butter, caster sugar, an egg, a fresh lemon, strawberry jam, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
Variations & Substitutions
- Lemon. Use one fresh lemon to get the juice and zest.
- Strawberry jam. Use any store-bought strawberry jam or make your own at home. For a variation of this recipe, you can also use raspberry, apricot, or blueberry jam.
- Butter. Use unsalted butter so that you have more control on the saltiness. If you’re using salted butter, skip adding extra salt.
- Caster sugar. You can also use granulated sugar but you’ll need to pulse it briefly in a food processor for a finer texture.
- Egg. Used as a binding ingredient. You can also use a flax egg.
- All-purpose flour. Substitute with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, if needed.
- Baking powder. To help the cookies rise.
- Salt. Skip if using salted butter.
📖 How to make strawberry lemonade cookies
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC for fan ovens) and line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.
Step 2:
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the unsalted butter and caster sugar until well combined.
Step 3:
Add the plain flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and juice, and egg, then mix until a smooth cookie dough forms.
Step 4:
Using a tablespoon measure, scoop the cookie dough onto the lined cookies sheet, rolling each portion into a round ball and press with your fingers to make a small hole in the middle. Arrange the cookies in the tray 2-inch apart from each other. Fill each cookie with about a ¼ teaspoon of strawberry jam.
Step 5:
Bake the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Leave to cool completely in the tray.
Step 6:
Serve while warm and enjoy!
Shruthi’s Top Tip
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy to incorporate more air, ensuring a lighter texture.
- Use freshly grated lemon zest for a more intense lemon flavor and avoid the bitter white pith.
- When mixing the dough, add the flour gradually to prevent overworking the gluten, which can make cookies tough. If the dough feels too sticky, dust your hands with a bit of flour to roll the balls smoothly.
- Create a deeper indentation in the dough balls using the back of a teaspoon to hold more jam and avoid it spilling out during baking.
- Use a small piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off to neatly fill the indentations with jam.
- For extra lemon flavor, brush the cookies with a light lemon glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice while they are still warm.
👩🏽🍳 Troubleshooting FAQs
Yes, you can use salted butter, but omit the pinch of salt from the recipe.
Make sure to chill the dough for about 10-15 minutes before shaping and baking.
You can use granulated sugar but pulse it briefly in a food processor to get a finer texture, similar to caster sugar.
🍴 How to serve strawberry lemonade cookies
Serve these lemon sugar cookies as a delicious afternoon snack or dessert. You can top them with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or a strawberry buttercream. My favorite way to serve it is by drizzling it with a lemon glaze.
🍴Storage and reheating suggestions
To make the recipe ahead, make the lemon cookie dough and cover it with a plastic wrap. Store it in in the fridge for 2-3 days, then bake according to instructions.
Store leftover strawberry lemonade cookies for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat it in the oven at 300F for 5-10 minutes.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Make sure to freeze them on a single layer on a baking sheet first before transferring them to a freezer bag. Then, thaw for a few hours in the fridge and warm in the oven.
🍴 More delicious cookie recipes
If you like this recipe, check out my other cookie recipes:
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Danish Butter Cookies
Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Strawberry Lemonade Cookies
Ingredients
For the lemon cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup caster sugar, substitute powdered sugar
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, plus extra for garnish
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 egg
For glazing:
- ½ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC for fan ovens) and line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the unsalted butter and caster sugar until well combined. Add the plain flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and juice, and egg, then mix until a smooth cookie dough forms.
- Using a tablespoon measure, scoop the cookie dough onto the lined trays, rolling each portion into a round ball and press with your fingers to make a small hole in the middle. Arrange the cookies in the tray 2-inch apart from each other. Fill each cookie with about a ¼ teaspoon of strawberry jam
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.
- Leave to cool completely in the tray.
Notes
- Soften the butter at room temperature for 30 minutes before mixing to achieve a smoother dough.
- Use a microplane grater for the lemon zest to ensure fine and evenly distributed zest in the dough.
- Mix the butter and sugar for at least 3-5 minutes to properly cream them together, which helps create a lighter texture.
- Chill the dough for 10-15 minutes before scooping to make it easier to handle and shape.
- If the jam is too thick, warm it slightly to make it easier to spoon into the cookies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
