These lemon white chocolate cookies are packed with zesty, tangy lemon flavor. They have buttery crisp edges, and are soft & chewy. It's such an easy, no chill, no mixer recipe. The combination of zesty tangy lemon works perfectly with sweet and creamy white chocolate. The perfect, easy cookie packed full of lemon flavor.
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🍪 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- No mixer, no chilling required: You'll love how quick and easy this recipe is!
- Chewy: They have the perfect soft, chewy middles and crisp edges.
- Zesty and tangy: They're packed with lemon zest and lemon juice for all the flavor without using lemon extract.
- White chocolate: They give these cookies the perfect creamy bite.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Lemon: You need fresh whole lemons. Don't use squeezed lemon juice from a bottle.
- Butter: Good quality real butter will give the best results. You can use dairy free butter for a dairy free version.
- White chocolate: Good quality, real white chocolate will give you the creamiest bite. Use real white chocolate chips - I used mini white chocolate chips - or chopped good quality white chocolate. You can omit the white chocolate if you prefer without. Make sure it says "white chocolate" on the pack of white chocolate chips!
- All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
✔️ Flavor variations
You can substitute the lemon with the same amount of your preferred citrus such as lime and orange.
For a berry twist, make these easy swirled lemon raspberry cookies which also have white chocolate in them!
Add these mix ins for a flavor twist:
- ¼ cup lightly toasted shredded coconut
- ½ cup lightly toasted pecans, macadamia nuts, or almonds
- replace white chocolate with semisweet chocolate chips
👩🍳 How to make lemon white chocolate cookies
Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 1: Combine sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Rub the sugar and zest with your fingers until the sugar becomes fragrant and more moist.
Step 2: Add salt, egg, and egg yolk into the sugar. Whisk until thickened and lightened in color.
Step 3: Pour melted and cooled butter into the sugar mixture. Whisk by hand to combine until even and smooth. Add lemon juice and whisk to combine.
Step 4: Sift flour and baking soda into the same bowl. Fold with a large spoon or spatula just until a dough forms.
Step 5: Add ½ cup of white chocolate into the cookie dough and fold to incorporate. Reserve the other ½ cup of chocolate to top the cookies after baking. Let it sit for a few minutes until the dough becomes thick enough to scoop.
Step 6: Scoop and shape into 2-3 tablespoon balls and arrange a few at a time on the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are ready when the bottoms are slightly browned.
Step 7: Scoop and shape into 2-3 tablespoon balls and arrange a few at a time on the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies are ready when the bottoms are slightly browned.
Step 8: While the cookies bake and cool, rub the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl together until fragrant. Sprinkle on top of the warm cookies for some crunch.
📝 Expert cookie tips
- Rub the lemon zest and sugar together to release all the fragrant oils from the lemon and enhance the flavor.
- Weigh the flour: This will give you consistent results and create the perfect texture. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Don't overmix: Overmixing after the flour is added causes a dense, tough texture.
- Don't overbake: For the perfect chewy texture, the bottom should be slightly golden brown and the middle will be puffed up and not yet set. The cookies will continue to bake out of the oven.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
These cookies can be baked ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
You can prep the raw cookie dough ahead of time as well. Portion the dough out into balls and place on a parchment lined plate or baking sheet and chill in refrigerator. Once chilled, transfer to an airtight container or bag (they won't stick once chilled). They can be stored for up to 48 hours in the fridge, or up to 2 months in the freezer.
If cooking from frozen, add a few more minutes to the cooking time.
✔️ Why you don't need to chill these cookies
These lemon white chocolate cookies don't need any chilling, so you can bake the cookie within 30 minutes of making the cookie dough! The cookie dough has been developed to not require any chilling. You could chill if you want to, but it's not necessary.
The dough might still be very soft and not scoopable after you add the flour. Wait a few minutes for the cookie dough to firm up enough to scoop - it'll happen quickly! If it isn't working, pop the dough in the fridge for a few minutes.
Make sure the melted butter is cooled to room temperature before adding it in for the best results. It should still be liquid, but not hot.
If you love lemon cookies, try these lemon shortbread cookies and these lemon curd cookies!
📖 Recipe FAQs
Yes, portion the dough out into balls and place on a parchment lined plate or baking sheet and chill in refrigerator. Once chilled, transfer to an airtight container or bag (they won't stick once chilled). They can be stored for up to 48 hours in the fridge, or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Let the cookie dough balls sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking.
Any good quality white chocolate works best. If using white chocolate chips, make sure that they are real white chocolate chips, and not labelled as white chips. White chocolate chips are more yellow and melt so much easier. They are much creamier, melty, and have a better flavor.
You can, citrus and chocolate flavors are a very popular combination. Use semi-sweet chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips for a sweeter flavor.
I haven't tested it but it should work with 1:1 gluten free flour.
Yes, use dairy free white chocolate and dairy free butter (don't use a dairy free spread it's too oily).
You definitely can but I'm not sure how they'd hold up. I recommend making these lemon curd cookies instead!
🍋 More related recipes
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📖 Recipe
Lemon White Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- wire whisk
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 lemons zested
- 1 cup butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour 270 g
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup white chocolate chopped
Topping (optional)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 lemon zested
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Rub the sugar and zest with your fingers until the sugar becomes fragrant and more moist.1 cup granulated sugar, 2 lemons
- Add salt, egg, and egg yolk into the sugar. Whisk until thickened and lightened in color.¼ teaspoon sea salt, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk
- Pour melted and cooled butter into the sugar mixture. Whisk by hand to combine until even and smooth. Add lemon juice and whisk to combine.1 cup butter, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Sift flour and baking soda into the same bowl. Fold with a large spoon or spatula just until a dough forms.2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Add ½ cup of white chocolate into the cookie dough and fold to incorporate. Reserve the other ½ cup of chocolate to top the cookies after baking. Let it sit for a few minutes until the dough becomes thick enough to scoop.1 cup white chocolate
- Scoop and shape into 2-3 tablespoon balls and arrange a few at a time on the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies are ready when the bottoms are slightly browned.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking tray for one minute. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack using a spatula to cool completely. Top reserved white chocolate while they're still warm. Continue baking the rest of the cookies.
Topping
- While the cookies bake and cool, rub the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl together until fragrant. Sprinkle on top of the warm cookies for some crunch.2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 lemon
Notes
- Rub the lemon zest and sugar together to release all the fragrant oils from the lemon and enhance the flavor.
- Weigh the flour: This will give you consistent results and create the perfect texture. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Don't overmix: Overmixing after the flour is added causes a dense, tough texture.
- Don't overbake: For the perfect chewy texture, the bottom should be slightly golden brown and the middle will be puffed up and not yet set. The cookies will continue to bake out of the oven.
Niaomi
I made these cookies for father's day dessert and they are delicious. My scale is still broken, but I found that using two largely scant cups of flour versus the two and a quarter with spoon and level gave me a fantastic dough that spread nicely. I used turbadino sugar to top with the lemon zest and it came out nicely. These will burn VERY fast if you're not keeping an eye on them. I was busy doing other cooking and managed to leave one batch in for a few minutes extra and they browned so quickly (still tasted good) but that lemon was quick to pick up the colour once they'd been in too long, so don't make the same mistake I did!