Crisp Lemon Thin Cookies
Lemon Thin Cookies are, as the name suggests, crisp, thin and lightly lemony. This lovely little cookie is the perfect tea-time or snack-time treat.
This is a simple little cookie. It has no nuts or chunky chips or gooey filling, and that simplicity is exactly why I worked so hard to perfect this recipe.
Like all “simple” recipes, for example Angel Food Cake, Shortbread Cookies or a perfect Creme Brulee, when a recipe is short on ingredients, the quality of the ingredients and the technique becomes even more important. With no extraneous ingredients to hide behind, this cookie all all about getting that one perfectly light and crisp bite.
How to create the perfect Lemon Thin Cookie recipe:
I started my Lemon Thin quest a few months ago as I was perusing my old recipe notebooks looking for inspiration. I started keeping these notes at my first job out of pastry school. In these binders I collected techniques and recipes from all my pastry jobs over the years. I can’t tell you how often I refer back to these books.
At the back of one book I found a folded up recipe for “Lemon Thins” that I used to make when I worked for a local caterer. I remembered liking those cookies and set out to make them for the blog.
The first step was to resize the recipe from one that made several hundred cookies to one that made several dozen. I baked a batch and was sorely disappointed to find that, although the cookies looked pretty, they didn’t have the texture that I remembered. I wanted a classic thin and crisp lemon cookie with a light open texture. The cookies I baked had a cakey, soft crumb.
I soon got sidetracked testing the recipes for my book, Easy Baking From Scratch and the Lemon Thin recipe was put on the back burner (no pun intended). So now that my book is all done, I decided to tackle this recipe again.
Click through the step-by-step process photos to see how to make Crisp Lemon Thin Cookies:
Experimentation leads to a great Lemon Cookie recipe:
My first thought was to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe. I know that more sugar generally leads to a crisper cookie, so I upped the sugar a little bit.
The cookies were better than the original recipe but still not quite what I was after. Although the cookies were less cakey, the centers were still soft and chewy and the cookies were more dense than I wanted.
I reduced the eggs from 2 to 1 to reduce the amount of moisture in the dough. Less moisture means more crispness.
I also decided to add a little baking soda. Even though I wanted a flat cookie and not a puffy cookie, I wanted a light texture.
So why doesn’t the baking soda make the cookies puffy? We know that, baking soda will react with acidic lemon juice and release carbon dioxide into the batter. The carbon dioxide expands the air bubbles in the batter which should cause the cookies to rise.
But, once again, this is why baking is both a science and an art. I figured that the soft batter would not be able to hold onto the bubbles and I was right. The bubbles ended up popping and the cookies collapsed a little as they baked.
Normally we don’t want things collapsing in the oven. But I was happy to see it happen this time. The result is a cookie that has a light open crumb, but is still nice and thin.
I made one last test batch. I had been working with confectioner’s sugar in the recipe because, with it’s smaller crystals, confectioner’s will more readily absorb moisture in the dough. When the sugar absorbs more moisture, the cookies spread more. For this Lemon Thin Cookie recipe I wanted the cookies to spread because I wanted them to be, well, thin.
But I also know that more folks keep granulated sugar in the house than confectioner’s sugar. For convenience sake, I decided to test the recipe with granulated sugar. Right out of the oven the cookies made with the granulated sugar seemed pretty close in texture and crispness to the one’s made with confectioner’s sugar.
But I found that the cookies made with the confectioner’s sugar held on to the crisp texture longer than those made with granulated sugar. Even the next day they had a good crisp bite.
Finally, after baking about 101029102190 Lemon Thins, I had the exact texture and flavor I was after. Put on the kettle and enjoy a couple of these little beauties.
You might also enjoy these adorable Checkerboard Cookies, Coconut Thins or wonderful Vanilla Wafers.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider giving it a 5-star review.
Lemon Thins
Ingredients
- 5 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, see note)
- 6 oz confectioner sugar (1 ½ cups)
- finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- ¼ tsp table salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 5 oz all purpose flour (1 cup, see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (see note).
- Cream 5 oz unsalted butter, 6 oz confectioner sugar and finely grated zest of 1 large lemon until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon extract mix until well combined. Add 1 egg and mix until well combined. Scrape the bowl. Add ¼ tsp table salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda and 5 oz all purpose flour and mix until incorporated.
- Use a .75 oz scoop or a tablespoon to scoop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between the cookies. They will spread as they bake so make sure to leave enough room.
- Bake until the edges are golden brown and the middle of the cookies are set, about 8-10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the pan to set then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
- Store at room temperature in a covered container.
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Notes
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I made these yesterday. They were the thin that I was looking for, but weren’t crispy, they were more chewy. Also my friend said it left an after taste, probably the extract.. I even cooked them 2 minutes longer than suggested. What do you recommend to make them crispy. Next time I’ll leave out the extract and opt for more lemon juice.
Yes, the brand of extract can make a difference in the taste. I know it’s a little expensive, but I love Nielsen Massey extract. Instead of adding more lemon juice I suggest adding more lemon zest. The zest has the oil and that’s where the lemony flavor comes from and more lemon juice would add more moisture to the cookie. Did you use confectioner’s sugar or granulated sugar in the batter? I found that cookies made with confectioner’s sugar stayed crisp longer.
I made a monster cookie at first when I underestimated the spread and everything kind of morphed together. But everything tasted delicious and delicate and lemony as hoped. Thanks for the recipe!
Yes, they do spread quite a bit, that’s how they get so thin and crisp. Just give yourself a little more room between cookies and/or make the scoops smaller. Also, if the batter is too soft you’ll get more spread. I’ve had this happen to me before. You can chill the batter briefly to firm it up a bit before scooping. But even an ugly cookie is still delicious!
I made two batches. THe first were slightly brown on the edges and almost spread too much. However, the second batch I chilled and spread more and were more brown. Any idea why? Otherwise delicious.
Hmmm, strange that the chilled batch spread more. Were they in the oven longer? Do you have a oven thermometer to check if the temperature is accurate? Also, if you bake on a darker colored sheet pan the cookies will brown faster. I have two older, darker sheet pans and two newer, shinier sheet pans and there is a significant difference in how they bake.
The cookies turned out not as thin as the cookies showing in the picture. What would be the reason?
I can’t say without knowing exactly how you measured and mixed the dough. My first thought would be if your butter or egg was too cold the batter might not spread as much.
Thank you for sharing your delicious lemon cookie recipe and chemistry. I am not a big fan of recipes with lemon extract, and this had just enough extract to punch up the lemon flavor. I used the ripe Ponderosa Lemons, that have been hanging perilously on their pendulous branches in my backyard. The cookie flavor was superb. The cookie married just a bit of puff with edge crispiness – it was perfect. Warning: these cookies disappear very quickly! I knew I had succeeded when my husband requested that I make the recipe again for his company’s Christmas party.
Lisa, how lucky you are to have fresh lemons. I can only imagine how lovely they smell and taste.
Can I double the recipe? Or do I have to change anything in the recipe
Yes, you can double the recipe.