Lemon Snowball Cookies
Melt-in-your-mouth Lemon Snowball Cookies are a buttery burst of lemon flavor in every bite without lemon extract. Tossed in powdered sugar, these nut free snowball cookies are eggless and don’t require any chilling prior to baking!
I love my friends, but they sure can be picky eaters.
One isn’t a fan of chocolate. One doesn’t like coconut, nuts, or peppermint. Another is allergic to coconut while someone else is allergic to pineapple.
Then of course you have the ones on Weight Watchers, so they rarely eat anything I make.
Then there’s one online friend who I have bonded with quite well, so we exchanged Christmas cookies. The problem is she doesn’t like chocolate, peanut butter, or ginger.
Um, hello? It’s Christmas cookie season! How can you make Christmas cookies without those three ingredients?!
I knew she has a love affair with lemon, so I baked her these Lemon Snowball Cookies.
Think melt-in-your-mouth lemon shortbread cookies coated with powdered sugar.
Also known as tea cake cookies, they’re similar to chocolate chip snowball cookies but with a burst of lemon flavor instead of chocolate.
Lemon snowballs are also less work than my coconut snowball cookies stuffed with a fun surprise.
All you have to do is mix together the dough, portion them into 1 tablespoon balls, and bake. No need to chill the dough prior to baking.
In fact if you need lemon cookies right now for your Christmas cookie tray, you can have them ready to serve in under an hour.
Originally my lemon snowballs contained lemon extract, but let’s face it – nobody actually has lemon extract in their pantry.
Much like my lemon fudge, I bumped up the lemon zest so you can still taste citrus without buying an unnecessary ingredient.
Another bonus – most snowball recipes out there make dozens and dozens of cookies.
My small batch lemon cookies make 1 dozen. You can even cut the recipe down further for 6 cookies depending on how many people you’re serving.
Ingredients For Lemon Snowball Cookies
To make your lemon snowballs, gather the following ingredients:
- Butter: The key to the melt in your mouth texture is butter. Do not substitute margarine or whipped butter.
- Powdered sugar: Used to sweeten the dough and for tossing after baking
- Lemon zest:Don’t skimp on the zest as this is where the lemon flavor comes from!
- Vanilla: Enhances flavor so they’re extra delicious
- All-purpose flour: Binds the dough together to form your cookies
- Salt: Flavors the dough so it isn’t bland
How To Make Lemon Snowball Cookies
To make lemon wedding cookies:
- Beat together butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in flour and salt until a dough forms.
- Scoop into 1 tablespoon balls either by hand or with a size 60 cookie scoop.
- Bake at 350F for 8-10 or until lightly browned.
- Roll in powdered sugar then finish cooling.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Lemon Snowball Cookies FAQ
If your dough is too crumbly, keep mixing. Sometimes it’ll take an extra minute or two to form a dough, especially if you’re using a hand mixer.
Yes, freeze cookies by putting them in a single layer on a tray or plate then freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 1 month. It’s likely you’ll need to re-roll them in powdered sugar once they thaw.
You can also use orange or lime zest to make citrus snowball cookies.
More Lemon Cookie Recipes
Is lemon your favorite flavor? Check out these other lemon cookie recipes:
Lemon Snowball Cookies
Melt-in-your-mouth Lemon Snowball Cookies are a buttery burst of lemon flavor in every bite. Tossed in powdered sugar, these nut free snowball cookies are eggless and don't require any chilling prior to baking
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line one cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl on medium-high speed (with the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), beat together the butter, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon zest, and vanilla until light and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Scrape down the bowl. On low speed gradually beat in the flour and salt until a dough forms, about 1 minute (it'll look crumbly and dry, but it'll come together. If it doesn't come together, keep beating on low speed).
- Using a small #60 cookie scoop or your hands, shape the dough into 1 tablespoon balls. Place on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart as they won't spread much.
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Mix together remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon zest then carefully roll cookies. Cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- You can also use lime or orange zest instead of lemon.
- Enjoyed this recipe? Check out my Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies and Coconut Snowball Cookies.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
First published January 15, 2013
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchase.
These were worth the 7 day wait!
I have been on a ca-RAZY lemon kick lately, and I always love cookies :), so this is right up my alley! Pinning to make ASAP :)
Lemon chips?! How did I not know that this existed? I cannot wait to check this out.
Lemon Chocolate Chips . . . who knew?
I learn something every time I come to your site!
Thanks!
Yum! The Bulk Barn by us actually has lemon chips too!
YUMMY! I love anything LEMON! I made Pink Snowball Puffs and Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies! I will be making these, thanks for sharing!
Oh, I’m so ready for another cookies season and this definitely goes into my list. What a fun combo between lemon and choco chips. Yum!
How cool are these. My husband and I don’t like coconut or mint either. He also hates nutmeg. Go figure.
these cookies were delicious. i will definitely make a double batch the next time i make them because i only ended up with 8 cookies (i didn’t use any lemon chips or candy). they also fell apart a little when i tried to roll them in the sugar.
Glad you enjoyed them! I used a cookie scoop to keep the size consistent.
These look pretty amazing. I like lemon but I’ll take the chocolate and peanut butter ones and give these to Jen. Just ship all the others to New York. ;)
I’m thinking about it…and I want some! I want a handful of these gorgeous melt-in-your-mouth cookies.
I just found you over on G+ and I’m hooked! These are gorgeous cookies. Pinned!
There would be no way… NO FLIPPIN’ WAY, that these cookies would cool down enough for the chips to get crunchy. Warm lemon cookies? Umm.. hello OBSESSION! <3
Yea I preferred them warm too, but I did save some for later ;)