Making Old Fashioned Lemon Butter Cookies Recipe

My great aunt who is 83 years old has been baking and cooking all of her life. When I was a little girl, I could remember spending countless hours with her in the kitchen and learning just about everything I know today that pertains to baking.

This is a recipe she started making back in the 1960’s and to this day, its one of our family’s favorite cookie recipes. Back in the 1960’s money was tight so women used to whip up recipes using the common ingredients they usually had on hand.

If you love lemon flavored cookies, then give this recipe a try.

Lemon Butter Cookies

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• additional sugar

*note* I like a lot of lemon flavor, so when I make Auntie’s recipe, I increase the lemon juice to 4 tablespoons and I always use fresh lemon juice that I personally hand squeeze. (I don’t use the bottled lemon juice).

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer at medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, lemon juice, lemon peel, baking powder and salt. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. (make sure you refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 2 hours but no longer than for 4 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough, a small portion at a time on a well floured surface to 1/4″ thickness. Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator. Cut dough with 3″ round cookie cutter. (you can also use a round biscuit cutter which I find easier to use than a cookie cutter).

Transfer cookies to a ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. I lined my cookie sheet with a Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat and I am so glad that I did! They just slid off the mat when they were done and they were evenly baked.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet before removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Additional Note: The thinner you roll out the dough, the less baking time it will need. So if you like thick cookies, roll out your dough thicker than described above but you will need to increase your baking time by 1-2 minutes.

The Author:

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 in Direct Sales. You can visit Shelly’s Recipe Blog at inthekitchenwithshelly.co