Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies

Unlike other lemon cookies, which have just the barest hint of lemon flavor, these cookies pack quite a lemony punch, but without tasting too sour or too artificial. The secret is to use three different types of lemon flavoring in the dough: lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract.

Most lemon cookies also tend to be crispy and crumbly. I have anything against those cookies, but I want a cookie that I can really sink my teeth into. These soft and chewy lemon cookies are certainly that.

It seems like my friends are evenly split between chocolate lovers and lemon lovers when it comes to dessert. On one side are those folks who crave dark, rich, earthy, dense chocolate.

On the other side are those folks who desire bright and sunny lemon treats. Their eyes light up when they see lemon bars. They start salivating at the idea of lemon meringue pie.

When I mentioned these soft and chewy lemon cookies, these friends immediately clamored for the recipe. If you love lemon, this one is for you!

The secret ingredient for making these cookies soft and chewy is cream cheese. This also adds a subtle tang that works really well with the lemon flavor. Just makes sure to let the cream cheese warm to room temperature before making the cookies or it will never properly incorporate into the dough.

Because of the lemon juice, the dough will seem really sticky and hard to work with. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to help make it easier to work with, but also use a light touch when rolling the dough. Don’t worry if things get a little messy, you can always wash it all off later!