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The weekend after Easter, my mom, my brother, and I met up with my aunt and cousins for a weekend in Disneyland. We all stayed at the same place, and each morning during our trip, we rode the hotelās shuttle to the theme park and arrived shortly before the gates opened. Ā
As my cousinsā first time at Disneyland, we packed as many rides into each day as we possibly could. We stood in the short lines for our favorite ones first, snagged front-of-the-line tickets with Disneyās new MaxPass option in their smartphone app for the other popular rides with extremely long queues, hopped on a few less popular ones in between, and ended up walking over nine miles each day as a result.
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When we walked to the shuttle pick-up on the night of our second full day, even after eating a large dinner salad in California Adventure, I still felt a little hungry. I thought about enjoying a few of the mini chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joeās that Mom had left back in our hotel room while we waited for the driver to arrive, and I mentioned that I thought those treats might be egg-free.
My brotherās eyes immediately lit up. āReally??ā he asked excitedly. āIāll check when we get back!ā Heās severely allergic to eggs, and itās rare for him to find store-bought options made without them that he actually enjoys.
As soon as we opened our hotel room door, he dashed to the plastic tub of cookiesā¦ And discovered that I had misremembered. Those bite-sized chocolate chip cookies included eggs after all, and although he reassured me heād be fine with the fruity candy he had packed as his sweet treats, I still felt horrible.
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So when I see him next week while visiting my parents, Iām bringing a batch of these Healthy Lemon Sugar Cookies! Lemon sugar cookies are his all-time favorite cookie flavor, so I intentionally made these without eggs. (They also have no dairy, refined flour or sugar!)
Even so, these healthy lemon sugar cookies are perfectly sweet, soft and chewy, and bursting with bright sunshiny citrus flavor. Theyāre also easier to make than youād expect (no mixer required!) and only 37 calories!
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So letās go over how to make these healthy lemon sugar cookies!
Youāll start with white whole wheat flour. I knowā¦ That sounds like an oxymoron. But contrary to what it looks like, white whole wheat flour actually existsāand itās not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour!
Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits, but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture. That lets the bright lemon flavor of your soft healthy lemon sugar cookies truly shineāand it keeps them chewy, too!
Tip: I also included a gluten-free option in the Notes section of the recipe, if you prefer!
Just remember to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (ā Thatās the one I own and love!) Too much flour will dry out your cookie dough and make your cookies cakey, dry, or crumbly. Not good! But if you measure the flour correctly, youāll end up with perfectly soft and chewy healthy cut out lemon sugar cookies.
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Youāll whisk a couple of ingredients into your flour, including a hint of baking powder and salt. Just a teeny bit of each! Because these are cut out lemon sugar cookies, you donāt want to add too much baking power. You want the tops of your healthy lemon sugar cookies to be nice and flat! So youāll just add a touch of baking powder to give them a nice soft and chewy texture.
Then youāll also whisk in lemon zest. This is one of the most important ingredients in the entire recipe! The lemon peel has a much more concentrated citrus flavor than the lemon juice, so the zest provides most of that lemon taste.
For the best citrus flavor in your healthy lemon sugar cookies, use lemons that are pure yellow with no green spots. Also, remember to use a zester! (ā Thatās the one I own!) Regular box graters donāt work nearly as well as zesters, even if you use the smallest holes. Itās definitely worth using a zesterāit creates the best tasting healthy lemon sugar cookies imaginable!
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Unlike many traditional sugar cookie recipes that call for a full stick or butter (or more!), you just need 2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil. Thatās it! That really helps keep your healthy lemon sugar cookies low calorie and low fat.
To make it even easier, you get to melt the butter or coconut oil! I have a hard time remembering to set out butter far enough in advance to let it properly soften on the counterā¦ So I always love recipe shortcuts like this, where you can just pop the butter in the microwave. Easy peasy!
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Then to make your healthy lemon sugar cookies taste just as rich and indulgent as traditional ones, even without lots of butter, youāll add in a little extra vanilla extract, along with butter extract. Vanilla enhances butterās rich flavor, and the butter extract gives your sugar cookies that iconic bakery-style taste.
Tip: This is the butter extract that I use! Itās shelf-stable and keeps for ages. You can usually find it on the baking aisle right next to the vanilla extract!
To replace the eggs and make your healthy lemon sugar cookies egg-free (and vegan friendly too!), youāll stir a little extra freshly squeezed lemon juice into the melted butter or coconut oil. This adds moisture to the cookie dough, so your cookies donāt turn out dry, and it also adds more of that yummy citrus flavor.
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To sweeten your healthy cut out lemon sugar cookies, youāll actually use two ingredients: pure maple syrup and liquid stevia. Hereās why!
If you just used pure maple syrup, and if you added enough to make your healthy lemon sugar cookies taste just as sweet as regular sugar cookies, then youād end up with way too much liquid in your cookie dough. It would have the same consistency as muffin or cake batter, and you wouldnāt be able to roll it out or cut it into shapes!
But if you scaled back and only used enough maple syrup to give your cookie dough the correct consistency, then your lemon sugar cookies wouldnāt taste sweet at allā¦ Theyād taste like bread. Not good.
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So thatās where the liquid stevia comes in! Liquid stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka itās clean eating friendly!). Itās also highly concentrated. You just need 1 Ā½ teaspoons, which is the equivalent of almost Ā¾ cup of maple syrup!
By using both maple syrup and liquid stevia, you end up with healthy lemon sugar cookies that are perfectly sweet, soft, and chewyājust like cut out sugar cookies should be!
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Remember, you want the maple syrup that comes directly from maple trees! The only ingredient on the label should be āpure maple syrup.ā Itās generally sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!).
This is the liquid stevia that I use because I love its flavor and donāt notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. I buy it online here because thatās the best price Iāve found. (And youāll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Time to chill your cookie dough! Chilling allows the flavors to meld and marry, and it also stiffens the cookie dough. This makes rolling out the cookie dough much easier!
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And I have a special trick for you for rolling out your lemon sugar cookie dough!
Leave it between two extra large pieces of plastic wrap. This means you donāt have to flour your work surface or your rolling pin. It also makes clean-up a breeze!
Then you can peel back the top layer of plastic wrap and cut out your healthy lemon sugar cookies! This is the cookie cutter that I used.
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Remember to peel unused pieces of dough away from your cut out shapes first, before transferring your cut out shapes to your baking sheet! If you did it the other way around, youād end up with lopsided and stretched out cookie shapes. But by peeling away the unused dough first, you end up with beautiful healthy lemon sugar cookies!
Then all thatās left to do is slide your baking sheet in the oven, wait just a few minutes, thenā¦
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Enjoy your yummy and healthy cookies! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees Iāll see your picture! ????) Iād love to see your healthy lemon sugar cookies!
| Healthy Lemon Sugar Cookies | | Print |
- for the cookies
- 1 cup + 6 tbsp (165g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- Ā¼ tsp baking powder
- Ā¼ tsp salt
- 1 Ā½ tbsp (8g) lemon zest (about 2 medium)
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Ā½ tsp butter extract
- 1 Ā½ tsp liquid stevia
- Ā¼ cup (60mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 medium)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) pure maple syrup
- for the icing (optional)
- 2 tbsp (30g) confectionersā style erythritol
- 1 Ā½ - 2 tsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, vanilla extract, butter extract, and liquid stevia. Stir in the lemon juice. Stir in the maple syrup. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1ā-tall rectangle. Cover the top with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days*).
- Preheat the oven to 325Ā°F, and line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Leaving the cookie dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, roll it out until between ⅛ā and 1/16ā thick. Carefully peel back one piece of the plastic wrap. Lightly flour your cookie cutter, and press it into the dough, making sure each shape lies as close to its neighbors as possible to minimize unused dough. Peel the unused dough away from the shapes, and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the unused dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, and repeat.
- Bake the cut out cookie dough at 325Ā°F for 6-8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the icing, stir together the erythritol and almond milk in a small bowl. Transfer to a zip-topped plastic bag, cut off a tiny piece from one corner, and drizzle over the fully cooled cookies.
Use a store-bought gluten-free flour blend (like this one!) for the gluten-free option, but make sure you measure it carefully, like this or with my favorite kitchen scale!
Itās very important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (ā Thatās the one I own and love!) Too much will dry out your cookie dough and make your sugar cookies crumbly.
If using coconut oil, the cookies may have a faintly detectable coconut flavor.
Vanilla extract may be substituted for the butter extract, but the cookies will not have the same iconic āsugar cookieā taste.
This is the liquid stevia that I use. Itās one of my favorite ingredients (youāll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!), and I buy it online here because thatās the cheapest price Iāve found. You cannot substitute pure maple syrup, honey, agave, or any type of sugar (coconut, brown, granulated) for the liquid stevia because cookies require a precise balance of wet and dry ingredients. (See my blog post above for more information.)
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
The lemon juice and maple syrup must be at room temperature. If cold, they will immediately re-solidify the melted butter or coconut oil.
This is my favorite plastic wrap. It clings SO much better than other brands Iāve tried! And this is my favorite rolling pin. Its surface is much more even than traditional wooden rolling pins, and itās perfect for rolling out dough for cinnamon rolls too!
If chilling the cookie dough longer than 2 hours, it may be necessary to āthawā the cookie dough on the counter for 15-20 minutes before trying to roll it out. It gets stiffer the longer it chills, so letting it rest on the counter for a short period of time makes it easier for you to roll it out!
If your cookies have air bubbles in their tops after baking, place another (room temperature!) baking sheet on top of them shortly after removing the cookies from the oven. Leave the baking sheet on top while they cool to room temperature.
I used this cookie cutter.
Regular powdered sugar may be substituted for the confectionersā style erythritol in the drizzle, but start with 1 teaspoon of milk instead because regular powdered sugar is much less absorbent.
Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
For more information regarding the ingredients and instructions, please see the text of my blog post above.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
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You may also like Amy’s other recipesā¦
ā”Ā Ā The Ultimate Healthy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
ā”Ā Ā Healthy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
ā”Ā Ā Healthy Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
ā”Ā Ā Healthy Eggnog Sugar Cookies
ā”Ā Ā The Ultimate Healthy Cut-Out Chocolate Sugar Cookies
ā”Ā Ā ā¦and the rest of Amy’s healthy cookie recipes!
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I just read your recipe and canāt wait to make these cookies. Erythritol and I donāt get along and liquid Stevia wonāt be used much. Can I use liquid Splenda as a substitute for both? The butter extract is hard to find so can I substitute either real butter or liquid with Butter Buds? Iām thinking the latter is healthier without the trans fat.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Lauren! I’ve actually covered the best substitute for the butter extract in the Notes section. Liquid Splenda cannot be used in place of the erythritol because that would just make the glaze the consistency of pure water. I’ve included the best substitute for the erythritol in the Notes section as well. I know it can be easy to miss that Notes section! š
If you buy the liquid stevia that I use, then I actually have 200+ recipes that also use it. (There’s a link to all of those other recipes in the Notes section as well!) Everything from cookies and cupcakes to muffins and quick bread and more! However, if you’d like to use liquid Splenda in place of the liquid stevia, you’ll need 2Ā½ teaspoons (about 36 “squeezes”). The cookie dough will be a little wetter because of the added liquid, so you’ll probably need to chill it longer.
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you decide to make them!
I tried these alongside with your skinny lemon doodles; these weren’t as good as the lemon doodles. Of course, I should have expected this with the sugar alternatives and such; so if you are looking for a low sugar alternative, these are great too! They were a bit dense and chewy as well. Overall, a good option for low sugar, but if you love lemon cookies, Amy’s lemon doodles are worth the extra calories š
I’m really honored that you tried this recipe of mine too Delaney! Your interest and support for my recipes means so much! ā”
Hey, just want to know…can I substitute the stevia with sugar? If yes what type and how much?
Thanks in advance. Cant wait to bake these!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Rachael! I’ve actually covered this in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! š With that in mind, this lemon cookie recipe of mine might be a better option for you. I’d love to hear what you think if you try either of these two recipes!