Lemon Raspberry Cookies
Soft and chewy cookies bursting with zesty lemon flavor and sweet, tangy raspberries for a refreshing and fruity treat.
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Start by letting butter sit out for about an hour to properly soften – you should be able to easily press your finger into it, but it shouldn’t be melty or greasy. Trust me, this makes a huge difference in how your cookies turn out.
- While the butter’s softening, zest the lemons first, then juice them. I find it’s much easier to zest a whole lemon than trying to zest a half-squeezed one. You’ll want the zest to be fine and just yellow – avoid the white pith underneath which can be bitter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. This helps distribute the leaveners evenly so you don’t get any weird salty or bitter spots in your cookies.
- In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and granulated sugar together until it’s really light and fluffy – about 3-4 minutes. The mixture should be pale and almost doubled in volume.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest until well combined.
- Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just combined. The dough will be fairly thick. Stop mixing as soon as you don’t see any more dry flour – overmixing will make your cookies tough.
- Very gently fold in the fresh raspberries. They’ll break up a bit as you fold them in, which is fine – those raspberry swirls through the dough are delicious! Just try not to mash them completely.
- Cover the dough and chill for at least 30 minutes. This helps the flour hydrate and prevents the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto your prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. The dough might be a bit sticky – a cookie scoop works great here if you have one.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown and the centers look set but still soft. The bottoms should be light golden brown when you lift one up to check.
- Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes – they’ll be too soft to move right away. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, dust them with powdered sugar using a fine-mesh sieve.