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Light and crispy these Lemon Oatmeal Cookies are the perfect treat for any lemon lover.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you love lemon, then you can never have enough lemon recipes. These delicious and crispy lemon oatmeal cookies have been a favorite of ours for over a decade. And you are going to love them too.
Oatmeal and lemon is not a combination I usually put together but trust me on this one, it works! The recipe is similar to a cookie that was available at the Portland Art Museum. The author of the article where I found the recipe (sorry I don’t have their name – I cut out the recipe but that was it) had this to say about their experience with the cookies nearly twenty years ago:
“I don’t remember the exhibits, but I’ll never forget those elegant cookies. Their elusive, lemony flavor makes them the ideal accompaniment to an evening’s dessert, such as fresh fruit, ice cream or sorbet.”
Cookie Ingredients
- Flour. I use all purpose flour
- Baking Soda
- Sugar. Granulated sugar
- Butter. I always use salted butter, if you use unsalted butter, add in 1/4 tsp more salt.
- Lemon Extract. Extract will give you a bolder lemon flavor then lemon juice will.
- Lemon. You will use the lemon zest.
- Oatmeal. Old fashioned oatmeal will give you a chewier cookie. If you only have quick oats that will work too, the texture of the cookie will just be a bit different.
How to Make Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and one cup sugar together until light and creamy in color, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in lemon extract and zest, beat to incorporate.
- Add in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir just until blended.
- Pour in the oatmeal and beat to blend.
- Scoop dough into balls using a tablespoon size cookie scoop. Keep it small as they spread a lot.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place about 3 inches apart to allow for spreading.
- Dip the bottom of a glass into water and then into the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Use the glass to press down on the ball of dough to slightly flatten.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 12 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown.
Tips from Leigh Anne
- This cookies spread quite a bit so I used my smallest cookie scoop (about 1 Tablespoon size) so they didn’t get too big and run together.
- The recipe does not contain eggs, it is not a typo so no need to email me to ask me!
- Do a test cookie first to see how much they spread. If they spread too much add another tablespoon of flour.
This cookies are light and crispy on the edges with a delicious subtle lemon flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these cookies freeze well.
Lemon Oatmeal Cookies freeze great and will keep in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Check out all my tips on how to freeze cookies here.
Some of my other favorite oatmeal treats:
If you are looking or more lemon treats, try these:
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- The Best Lemon Bars
- Lemon Icebox cookies
- Lemon Cream Sandwich Cookies
- Lemon Sorbet
Be sure and follow me over on You Tube for weekly cooking demos.
Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- Grated zest from 1 medium lemon
- 1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal uncooked
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Into a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a stand mixer set on low speed, beat the butter and 1 cup sugar until creamy and light in color, 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- On medium speed, add the lemon extract and zest and beat until blended.
- Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on low until blended.
- Add the oatmeal and beat until blended
- Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out some dough and roll it between your hands to form a ball (if the dough sticks to your hands, keep a bowl of cold water nearby and occasionally dip your hands in, shaking off the excess)
- Place the cookies, 2 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Place the reserved 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl alongside another small bowl filled with water.
- Lightly dip the bottom of a flat glass in the water and then in sugar.
- Lightly flatten each cookie, refreshing the glass with every one or two cookies.
- Bake until the tops are just golden, about 12 minutes.
- Let the cookies firm and cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
- Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Tips & Notes:
- This cookies spread quite a bit so I used my smallest cookie scoop (about 1 Tablespoon size) so they didn’t get too big and run together.
- The recipe does not contain eggs, it is not a typo so no need to email me to ask me!
- Do a test cookie first to see how much they spread. If they spread too much add another tablespoon of flour.
Nutrition Facts:
anita owenby says
Great lemon flavor. I added a little more lemon extract & lemon peel than the recipe called for because I love lemon The crunchy texture was perfect!
Maxine says
I missed the dividing of the sugar part, and panicked, but just added a little more flour and omitted the sugar on top. They were still delish!
Cindy says
This is one of the best cookie recipes ever made in our household of homemade cookie lovers. Added about a 1/2 tsp ground cardamom with the flour mixture and took the suggestion to roll the balls in sugar but used a sugar/cardamom mixture and flattened a bit with a glass. Also added about one cup of chopped organic walnuts with the oatmeal. My husband asked me to make these three times in a week’s span. We are cookie monsters!
Sue Murray says
I loved them and shared with my family, they all wanted the recipe!! The one thing I changed is lemon juice instead of the lemon extract. I will be making them again! Thank you!
Penny says
I honestly didn’t want to like this cookie. It wasn’t “pretty”, was too fragile, and didn’t have a lot of flavor. I took some to a blood drive I was hosting at my church and they were all eaten!!! I only got 20 and packaged 2 per bag but they got rave reviews. I felt like there was an excessive amount of butter and wondered if anyone had reduced that ingredient. I did put mine in the freezer for about 5 minutes after I rolled them and feel that helped save the second and third pan. I’m not giving up since they were liked by all who tried them.