I have been making these cookies for so long I can’t remember where I first found the recipe. The bright lemon flavor makes them a favorite year-round, and they are especially loved by my sister.
This recipe is designed for a cookie press fitted with a ribbon disk, which produces very thin, delicate cookies. If you prefer, you can roll the dough into a chilled log and slice it thinly—I’ve never tried that variation myself, but it should work well. The key is the flavor of the dough: the cream cheese and lemon combine to create a tender, flavorful cookie.
Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients:
Cookie Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 3-oz package softened cream cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp grated lemon rind
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and set aside.
- Beat the softened butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and mix until fully combined. Beat in the egg, grated lemon rind, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until evenly blended.
- Chill the dough for about 30 minutes to firm it up slightly.
- Fit a cookie press with a ribbon disk and press the dough onto an ungreased, cold cookie sheet, spacing pieces a little apart since these cookies are thin.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
- While the cookies cool, make the glaze by whisking the confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth. Adjust consistency with a little more sugar or juice if needed.
- When the cookies are cool, dip one end of each into the glaze or use a pastry brush to spread the glaze along half the cookie lengthwise. Allow the glaze to set before serving.
These cookies are tender, slightly tangy, and pleasingly light. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days, or freeze the baked cookies for longer storage. If you change the shaping method—pressing with a disk versus slicing from a log—expect a slight difference in texture, but the lemon-cream cheese flavor will remain the star.