Why you’ll love these cookies
If you love a good lemon dessert, these cookies should be right up your alley. They’re made with lemon olive oil (although, you could easily use a basic olive oil and add some extra lemon flavor through extract), and the rosemary plays so well with the citrus notes.
They’re not like my usual drop cookies. Instead, these little cookies are soft, pillowy balls with an almost cake-like texture. Making them a fun and unique treat. They work really well in the summer, but they are satisfying year round, especially when citrus is in season during the winter.
If you like this recipe, you have to try my lemon curd cookies, lemon butter cookies (don’t worry they’re still dairy free!), or lemon poppyseed cake. And, if you love a savory lemon recipe, try my lemon rosemary chicken, lemon ginger chicken soup, or honey lemon pepper wings.
Ingredients & substitutions
- Lemon olive oil – If you don’t have lemon olive oil, you can add 1 teaspoon lemon extract to your cookie dough.
- All-purpose flour – I haven’t tested this recipe with any other types of flour. I wouldn’t recommend changing this unless you are an experienced baker.
- Eggs – I have also not tried this recipe with egg replacements, so I cannot guarantee their results.
- Rosemary – If you want to leave this out or try a different herb, that should work just fine.
- Sugar – Sugar is an important ingredient in baking. It does more than just add sweetness. Sugar adds moisture and contributes to the spread of the cookies, so I don’t recommend changing the amount or type of sugar in this recipe.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make this keyword
Mise en place. Preheat your oven to 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, gather and measure all of your ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt until evenly combined. Set aside for later.
Mix the wet ingredients. Then, beat the olive oil, sugar, lemon zest and rosemary together with an electric mixer (you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer), until smooth and evenly combined. Then, add the lemon/vanilla extract and then eggs, one at a time.
Mix it all together. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix until combined. Then, scoop and roll the cookies into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and place them on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with sugar (you could also roll the cookies in sugar).
Bake the cookies. Pop your cookies into the oven for about 11 – 13 minutes, or until the cookies are set and no longer wiggly on top. Remove them from the oven and all them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup lemon olive oil - or good quality olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest - 2 teaspoons if using regular olive oil
- 1/2 heaping teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the sugar, olive oil, lemon zest and rosemary until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients. Beating until combined.
- Roll cookies into tablespoon-sized balls, placing them on the baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of sugar.
- Bake for 11 – 13 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the sheet to cool for a few minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.
