Lemon Pudding Cookies

Lemon lovers, rejoice! Just when you think you’ve had every lemon treat imaginable, these lemon pudding cookies will become your new favorite. The secret to these wonderfully tender cookies is instant pudding mix, which brings the citrus flavor and creates soft, chewy lemon cookies that won’t dry out. This slice-and-bake cookie recipe creates uniform and vibrant treats, and a drizzle of lemon glaze is the perfect way to dress them up. It’s lemon on lemon, just the way it should be.

Ingredients for Lemon Pudding Cookies

• Butter: Unsalted butter provides a rich flavor and contributes to a tender cookie texture. Let your butter soften to room temperature before baking for the best results. Here’s how to soften butter quickly in a pinch.
• Instant lemon pudding mix: Incorporate a packet of instant lemon pudding mix into the dough. Make sure it isn’t cook-and-serve pudding.
• Granulated sugar: Sugar sweetens the cookies and helps aerate the butter during the creaming step, resulting in a light and airy cookie.
• Egg: One room-temperature egg binds the ingredients and helps the cookies rise while baking.
• Milk: A splash of 2% milk adds moisture to the cookie dough. If you don’t have 2% milk, swap in whole milk instead.
• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is crucial for providing structure in the cookie dough.
• Baking powder: Just a touch of baking powder goes a long way in helping the cookies rise while baking, producing a fluffy texture along the way. If you haven’t used it in a while, test your baking powder and baking soda to ensure they are still fresh.
• Salt: Add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness and flavor of these cookies.
• Lemon glaze: Top this lemon pudding sugar cookies recipe with a simple glaze made with confectioners’ sugar and fresh lemon juice.

Directions

Step 1: Start the dough

In a large bowl, cream the butter, pudding mix and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the egg and milk.

Editor’s Tip: Creaming butter and sugar often takes longer than you think. Let the mixture cream until it’s a pale yellow color.

Step 2: Add the dry ingredients

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.

Step 3: Chill the dough

Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, shape each section into a 6-inch-long roll. Securely wrap each in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm, about three hours.

Editor’s Tip: For a more uniform log, place the wrapped dough inside an empty cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels and chill. It will give you perfectly round cookies!

Step 4: Slice and bake

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Unwrap and cut each section of dough crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Place each slice 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake until the edges are light brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for two minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Step 5: Finish with the glaze

In a small bowl, mix confectioners’ sugar and enough lemon juice to reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over cookies. Let the cookies stand until the glaze has set.

Lemon Pudding Cookie Variations

• Try another topping: The easy glaze enhances the lemon flavor of these cookies, but you can also top them with vanilla buttercream frosting or dust them with confectioners’ sugar.
• Add white chocolate: Lemon and white chocolate are an excellent pairing. Press white chocolate chips into the top of each cookie before baking.
• Make a lemon-lime version: Love a combination of citrus flavors? Incorporate the fresh zest of one lime into the cookie dough as well.
• Add poppy seeds: Beat 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds into the dough. You can also sprinkle them over the glaze to add a decorative touch to the cookies.

How to Store Lemon Pudding Cookies

To maintain their soft texture and excellent moisture, keep cookies stored in an airtight container or a zip-top bag. Store them at room temperature for up to five days.

Can you freeze lemon pudding cookies?

These are an excellent cookie to freeze and keep on hand. Store unglazed cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to two months. Thaw the cookies at room temperature, add the glaze and serve.

Can you make lemon pudding cookies ahead of time?

You can make the dough for this lemon pudding sugar cookies recipe up to two days in advance. Once the dough is ready, wrap it in waxed paper and place it in a zip-top bag or an airtight container. Store it in the fridge. Alternatively, you can wrap the logs in waxed paper and put them in a freezer bag. Store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to two months. Once you’re ready to bake the cookies, unwrap the frozen logs and slice the dough. Bake the cookies from frozen for an additional one to two minutes.

Lemon Pudding Cookie Tips

How do you get a perfectly round slice-and-bake cookie?

One trick to getting round slice-and-bake cookies is to chill the dough inside the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels. Also, when slicing a log of cookie dough, be sure to use a very sharp knife, and slice and rotate the log as you go. It will prevent the dough from being squished too much in one place while slicing.

Why did my cookies spread while baking in the oven?

The key to making the best slice-and-bake cookies is temperature, as the dough needs to be properly chilled to avoid spreading. If your cookies spread in the oven while baking, the dough likely wasn’t cold enough.