A cross between a shortbread cookie and a sugar cookie, these slice and bake lemon meltaway cookies have great texture, are lightly sweet and just the right amount of lemon flavour.
These Lemon Meltaways are a cross between a shortbread cookie and a sugar cookie, so the texture is nice and light. The amount of lemon flavour is spot on and they are just lightly sweet. All of this adds up to a cookie that you’ll want to have in your cookie jar on a regular basis.
And as if these cookies could get any better, they are slice and bake easy and you can freeze the dough, to enjoy some now and some later. While these are cookies to enjoy all year round, they’s be especially nice to bake up and have around for Easter, I think.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Butter – Baking recipes will often specify unsalted butter for a couple of reasons. First, unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life without the added salt, so the butter on the shelf if most likely fresher then the salted butter. And fresher butter is better butter.
Secondly, using unsalted butter allows you, the baker, to control the amount of salt in your baking. That makes for a better finished product, as you can salt to your taste.
All that said, if you only have salted butter, go ahead and use it, but reduce the amount of salt specified in the recipe, typically reduce it by 1/4 tsp for every 1/2 cup of butter used in the recipe. Since this recipe uses 1 cup of butter and only 1/2 tsp salt, you basically negate the need for added salt by using salted butter. Add a pinch, if you like.
Kosher Salt Once you eat one of these cookies made with the more coarse grained Kosher salt, you will understand exactly why it’s specified here. As the coarse grains of salt don’t melt as easily and disperse evenly into the cookie, you will find as you eat, you will hit a little salt “burst”, from a bit of unmelted Kosher salt. And I mean this in the most pleasant way. In the most perfect sweet/salty way! I highly recommend using Kosher salt, if you can, but again, if you only have fine salt, go ahead and use it, using just slightly less that specified in the recipe (and less again if you used salted butter :)
Cornstarch Also known as corn flour. It is just called different things in different places.
Fresh lemon juice and zest – Fresh lemon juice is best, for the brightest lemon flavour. You will need to start with at least one fresh lemon, to get the lemon juice lemon zest specified in the recipe and you definitely want to add enjoy that zest in these cookies.
Recipe Tips
- I found that cutting the rounds a little thicker, resulted in a more evenly cooked cookie. Allow a little extra cooking time for the thicker cookies.
- These cookies keep really well, in fact, I’d say they get more flavour as they sit, so don’t hesitate to make a full batch.
- You can freeze the rounds of dough after wrapping. If you’ve frozen them, let the frozen log warm a bit before slicing, so the rounds don’t crack.
- Be careful not to overcook. They are done when you see a little golden colour starting around the outside edges. You don’t want the whole cookie to start to colour. Check regularly after about 12 minutes of baking.
Top Tip!
Here’s some tips to keep your cookies round. Once you roll into a cylinder and wrap, chill standing up, so the bottom doesn’t flatten. Likewise, when you are cutting your cookies, you will be putting pressure on the roll, also flattening the bottom. After every 2-3 cuts, rotate the roll and roll gently on the cutting board to return to to a circle shape.
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Get the Recipe: Lemon Meltaways
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups icing/confectioners’ sugar, plus more for garnish below
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, finely grated and packed
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, just a pinch if using salted butter. 1/4 tsp if using fine salt and unsalted butter
For finishing:
- Additional icing/confectioners' sugar, for dusting after baking
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric beater or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter with the 1 1/4 cups of icing sugar and lemon zest on low speed until the icing sugar is moistened, then turn the mixer to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the lemon juice and egg yolk. Mix until combined.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces and set each piece on a length of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the sticky dough and roll and shape it with the palm of your hands to form it into a cylinder about 1 1/2 inches wide. Roll the cylinder a few times to help shape it, but don’t worry if it isn’t perfect. Chill the dough until completely firm, at least 2 hours. *I like to stand the cylinders on their end, to avoid a flat bottom.
- (You can double wrap and freeze the one or both of cylinders at this point. To use later, remove from the freezer and let warm slightly before slicing, to avoid cracking in the dough. Baking from semi-frozen may take an extra few minutes.)
- Preheat oven to 350F when ready to bake and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice the dough into rounds just about 1/4-inch thick (*see notes) and arrange them at least 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway though baking. The cookies should be golden around the edges, but not brown all of the way through.
- Set the pans on cooling racks and cool for a few minutes, then dust both sides of the warm cookies with the remaining 3/4 cup of icing sugar. Let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack, then store at room temperature in an airtight container. You can dust with additional confectioners’ sugar just before serving, if desired.
Notes
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
I was just about to make these then I realized I’m unclear on the icing/powdered sugar portion of the recipe. What exactly IS the icing recipe? I can’t seem to find your ingredients or measurements for the powdered sugar icing. Can you help me out? THANK YOU! These look divine!
Hi Christy, there is no icing. It’s simply icing sugar dusted on after baking.
I made these at Christmas and just made them again. They are delicious!
Glad to hear, Tonya :) Thanks so much!
Could I flatten the dough and use a cookie cutter instead of slicing rounds? Or would that impact the texture, rolling it out? I was thinking if I flattened it at the roll stage and put it in the freezer on a cookie sheet or board that may work.
Hi Kristen, I haven’t tried it, but I feel like it would work with this dough, as I think it would be rollable after it’s been refrigerated for a couple of hours. All that said, I’m not exactly sure what the advantage would be. What are you aiming for?
This is such a great recipe and the whole website actually! Special thank you for metric measurements.
Thanks so much, Vika :)
Which brand of kosher salt do you recommend? Diamond ..Mortons?
Hi Kelly, I use Windsor Coarse Kosher salt, which is an easy to find brand here in Canada.
I love lemon cookies and these look so delicious!
Thanks Laura :)
I’ve never had a lemon dessert that I didn’t like and I know I would enjoy these. Thanks for all the useful tips, especially about cutting the rounds a little thicker.
Thanks so much, Karen :)
Nothing like a good slice and bake cookie….especially when they’re meltaways!!!
Thanks Annie :)
I can see these becoming one of my favourites too! Absolutely love lemon anything! I’d devour so many of these right now! Pinned!
Thanks so much, Dawn :)
Lemon Meltaways are a personal favorite of mine and these look perfect! Love the description of a cross between a shortbread cookie and sugar cookie – sounds divine!
Thanks Tricia and me, too! I just love the texture and that they are not too sweet. And lemon, of course :)
This is definitely a recipe to treasure! I’d love to sink my teeth into a strawberry ice cream sandwich made with these little numbers, mmm. Or just have half the batch with my coffee, I am pretty sure I will not be able to stop myself once I get going, lol!
Oh I love the idea of ice cream sandwiches! I think they would make great sandwich cookies too, with a little lemon buttercream inside :)
I just bought a lemon melt away at a little bakery nearby. They were quite disappointing. I’m quite certain these cookies would be more of what I was expecting. They look wonderul!
Thanks Chris! I have really been enjoying them. They are just a lovely bite, any time of day :)
LOVE these Jennifer! Lemon cookies rank even higher than chocolate ones in my book! Can’t wait to try these!
Thanks Mary Ann and me, too :)