Lemon Poppyseed Cookies are Happy, Little Nuggets of Sunshine
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When spring rolls around, the first thing I want is zippy citrus flavors and a nice cup of tea with bouquets of fresh flowers. To fit the bill, I like to whip up these tiny lemon poppyseed cookies. They’re each a delicate bite of sweet and sour with a crisp iced top and a soft center with little crunchy poppyseed throughout.
Lemon Poppyseed Cookies are Inspired by My Daughter
If a cookie could be feminine, these are. They are soft, sweet, and a little floral from a bit of almond extract, but they’re also a little tart. While they pair perfectly with a cup of tea, they also stand up on their own. These lemon poppyseed cookies are a great little pick-me-up bite when you just need a little joy.
Lemon Poppyseed Cookies with a Drizzle
Throughout the fall and winter, I’ve made plenty of cookies. However, they generally come across as indulgent. Sometimes, you don’t need a filling chocolate chip cookie. You just need a little pop of sweet, right?
The beauty of these is how light and fluffy they are. They’re little puffs! You can reduce the flour if you want them thinner, but they really are the cutest if you follow the recipe as is.
So, how do you make them?
Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Dough
The dough comes together similarly to your favorite sugar cookie or snickerdoodle recipe.
I creamed together pure cane sugar with unsalted butter until light and fluffy. This is not the place to use light brown sugar as it overpowers the delicate flavors you’re about to build.
Then, I added in a healthy amount of concentrated lemon juice. You know, the kind that comes in the giant green bottle. The bottled concentrated lemon juice has a stronger flavor which is great when you’re trying to get sour lemon taste without too much liquid.
You can use fresh. They’ll be really great, I’m sure. Just make sure to also add in the lemon’s zest to amp the flavor up enough.
So, then, I balanced the sour lemon flavor with a tiny bit of almond for a nearly floral hint to make these super ladylike. Almond flavoring is pretty common in lemon poppyseed recipes because it pairs so nicely.
Finally, it’s the rest of your usual ingredients. Egg, flour, salt, and cream of tartar. Oh, but let’s not forget the poppyseeds! I used a tablespoon for the dough recipe plus a teaspoon in the drizzle. You can use more if you want a higher concentration of speckles.
And always remember to fluff your flour before you measure it. Spoon it into your measuring cup, and then level it off. This way you don’t use TOO much flour and end up with dry weird cookies.
The Dough Needs to “Age”
Now, every great cookie dough needs to be refrigerated. The time in the fridge allows the flour to fully hydrate. The flavors marry and develop. Plus, the butter that was originally room temperature cools all the way off and solidifies.
The butter is key. You want a cold butter in your doughs when you bake. Even in pie doughs or scones, it’s important. The heat of the oven is going to melt it anyway. The goal though is for it to melt properly.
Warmer butter introduced to heat will spread and become oily. Colder butter will spread less, so your cookies will get to their final shape more quickly and bake evenly.
So, long story short, refrigerate your lemon poppyseed cookie dough overnight for better cookies.
Finish Them Off with Lemony Icing
The last bit is the drizzle. The key is to make sure your cookies are totally cool first. Hot cookies absorb the drizzle, and that’s not what you want.
I used a glass measuring cup to measure my powdered sugar. Then, with a fork, I whisked in the poppyseeds to smooth the clumps. Continuing to whisk, I added in lemon juice until it was thick and glossy.
Too much lemon juice leads to a runny drizzle that soaks into the cookie. Less juice will give you a more opaque glaze. The amount in the recipe will give you a clearer drizzle. You can play with it, if you want.
In any case, you can use a pastry bag to get an even stream of drizzle, spoon it, or pour from the glass measuring cup. If you want more of an even glaze, you can dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze, too.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Lemon Poppyseed Cookies with a Drizzle
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
Ingredients
Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup pure cane sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3 tbsp lemon juice room temperature
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp poppyseeds
- ½ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
Lemon Poppyseed Icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp poppyseeds
Instructions
Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg until fully incorporated.
- With the mixer running on low, beat in the lemon juice and almond extract.
- Turn off the mixer, and dump in the flour, cream of tartar, salt, and poppyseeds.
- Slowly mix the dough until fully combined. It'll be fairly thick.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or ideally for 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spoon 1 Tablespoon sized portions and roll them between your palms to form smooth balls.
- Place onto your lined baking sheet, flattening just slightly to prevent rolling.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely.
Lemon Poppyseed Icing
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and poppyseeds to remove large clumps.
- Continue whisking, and drizzle in the lemon juice until a thick icing forms.
- You can dip the tops of each fully cooled cookie into the icing or you can drizzle it on.
- For a drizzle, transfer to a piping bag. Snip off the tip close to the end for a small drizzle.
- Drizzle each cookie lightly, and let it set for 30 minutes.
