Lemon Raspberry Cookies are soft, fluffy, buttery, and bursting with the flavors of fresh lemon and raspberries. Fun and incredibly easy to make, this delicious Lemon Cookie Recipe will vanish before your very eyes!
Lemon recipes are in constant rotation at my house and include Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze, Ginger Honey Lemon Chicken, and Easy Lemon Bars.
If you ask me, cookies are always a terrific idea. I am a self-diagnosed cookie addict, so this makes total sense. But these soft, fluffy, cake-like Lemon Raspberry Cookies? Something about them makes me want to dance, or sing, or run through a field of flowers.
A sweet buttery cookie light and fresh from the zing of fresh lemon juice and zest, these cookies are perfectly complemented by the tart and fruity raspberries. Butter, lemon, raspberries, sugar- all equal in flavor.
This is a cookie recipe you will find yourself making over and over.
INGREDIENTS IN LEMON RASPBERRY COOKIES
- butter
- sugar
- vanilla extract (preferably good stuff)
- egg
- lemon juice (only)
- lemon zest
- baking soda
- baking powder
- all-purpose flour
- frozen raspberries
Like most cookies, the ingredients are not complicated. But, for this raspberry lemon cookie recipe, you will not find pre-made cake or cookie mix, lemon juice concentrate, or butter substitutes.
They’re what I call a “clean” cookie. Obviously, they’re not healthy. We all know that cookies are not healthy. BUT, they’re made with basic, classic-cookie, ingredients.
FRESH VS. FROZEN RASPBERRIES?
You can make these cookies one of two ways-
- So they’re (hopefully) pretty.
- Or, to look however they turn out.
In other words, when it comes time to fold in the raspberries (more on that below) things can get…messy. And they can get messy fast.
So, when you make these lemon raspberry cookies, just take note that frozen raspberries typically result in prettier cookies. After all the raspberries are, well, frozen, and are less likely to get mashed together immediately.
As far as taste is concerned, they taste the same.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST RASPBERRY LEMON COOKIES
Ok, dear readers, this is the most important part of this whole post. So if you haven’t skipped past everything (yet), it’s best not to start now.
- This lemon cookie recipe works best as a drop cookie. Scoop and plop, that’s the way you do it.
- Do not try to roll these beauties into balls. The batter is far too sticky.
- Be prepared. Before you even START making the cookies, preheat the oven and line your baking sheets.
- Only when the oven is ready, baking sheets prepped, batter mixed, can you remove the raspberries from the freezer and add them to the mix.
- Very gently fold the raspberries into the batter. It does not have to be perfectly mixed (unless you want that).
- Store remaining batter in the refrigerator until the first round of cookies have been baked, cooled, and removed from the baking sheet.
- I do not recommend making double or triple batches of this recipe at one time UNLESS you divide the batter into separate bowls and store each individual bowl in the refrigerator (without the raspberries) until ready to bake.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO MAKE LEMON RASPBERRY COOKIES
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment paper or Silpat
- Cookie scoop
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY THESE OTHER RASPBERRY AND LEMON RECIPES
- Lemonade and Fruit Popsicles
- Berry Cups with Lemon Cake and Honey Lemon Yogurt Mascarpone Cream
- Raspberry Banana White Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Raspberry Almond Overnight Oats
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Raspberry Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon zested (zested)
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cup frozen raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium power until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes). On low, add the vanilla extract, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the bowl and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the baking powder, baking soda and flour.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until just combined. Use a rubber spatula or wood spoon and mix in the frozen raspberries (do not overmix!)
- Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet (approximately 1 heaping tablespoon). The dough is extremely sticky so it is much more difficult, messy and time consuming to use a spoon, so use a scooper if you have one 🙂 Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes or until they are no longer shiny on the top and just starting to brown around the edges.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Jessica's Notes
- While the first sheet of cookies are baking, place the second half of cookie dough in the fridge to prevent the raspberries from thawing completely.
- Recipe adapted from Bake. Eat. Repeat.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
I made these cookies last night for a small get together today… I made a double batch for less than 15 people and not one of them remained. I received compliments all day on how delicious these cookies were! My new favorite go-to cookie for any occasion!
Thanks for the delicious feedback and rating Dawn 🙂
Every year my mom used to make cookies with my sister and I to bring to the neighbors for Christmas. As an adult I’ve continued this tradition with my own kids but was getting so bored of making the same kinds of cookies. I found this recipe and it is easily my favorite of all the cookies on the cookie plates to our neighbors now!! I had to make an extra batch just for home. It’s even picky toddler approved 😉
Thanks for sharing the kind feedback Mikayla, I hope your neighbors also enjoyed it 🙂
So what do I do with the salt? The recipe calls for 1/4 TSP of salt but the instructions do not mentioned it at all.
Great question Mary, you add the salt with the “dry ingredients” in step 4 🙂
Very good! Make sure to use parchment paper because the raspberries tend to make these stick more than other types of cookies.
Next time I’m going to try making these with half whole wheat flour to increase fiber content.
Very good cookie, with nice fruit flavors. Put a sprinkle of sugar on tops of mine.
Hello! I just made these for a Canada day treat 🙂
I did not have raspberries (I thought I did), so I used strawberries. I sliced them so they would be around the same size as raspberries have. The first batch, I put it right away in the oven (top shelf 350F) and they spread out too much. The second one I put in the freezer for 40 min, then right into the oven. They came out better. I think I should make them smaller for the next time and freeze them completely before baking. Also, I would add half of the vanilla just because I want more lemony flavour 🙂
Thank you very much for posting this!
Have you tried adding honey instead of sugar?
Hi Kristine,
I have not tried this substitution, so I do not know how it will turn out.
Two questions: do you think frozen dried raspberries will work? Also, can I add some creame cheese without messing up the recipe or what can I substitute or add to balance it out?
Hi Allison,
Great question! Please see the section in the body of the post labeled Fresh vs Frozen, which I have copied here:
”
FRESH VS. FROZEN RASPBERRIES?
You can make these cookies one of two ways-
So they’re (hopefully) pretty.
Or, to look however they turn out.
In other words, when it comes time to fold in the raspberries (more on that below) things can get…messy. And they can get messy fast.
So, when you make these lemon raspberry cookies, just take note that frozen raspberries typically result in prettier cookies. After all the raspberries are, well, frozen, and are less likely to get mashed together immediately.
As far as taste is concerned, they taste the same.
”
As for the creme cheese, I have not tried it with creme cheese, so I cant recomend it.
Enjoy 🙂
I think the key difference I was interested in was the **dried** part of the question. I asked shout freeze-dried raspberries, not frozen ones 🙂
Sorry about that Allison, I clearly overlooked the “dried” 😉 .
I haven’t tried making this with freeze-dried raspberries, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. But do keep in mind freeze-dried raspberries tend to be a bit more tart than frozen or fresh.
Has anyone tried these without parchment paper on an air layered cookie sheet?
Hi Carol,
I try to always use parchment paper… but if you don’t have any and are in a pinch for time, a quick google search states aluminum foil with a non-stick spray could be used… I hope that helps 🙂
When I first saw the directions, I thought…”Good grief”. But I went ahead and read everything and so glad you told all. It made making them certainly easier , knowing. Thank you so much for the time you took in informing everyone. They are wonderful. I’m making this my favorite cookie recipe. Merry Christmas to you!!
Do you think you could make the dough ahead of time and freeze until ready to bake?
Hello Helen,
While I have not tried to freeze this dough until ready to bake, I think it will probably work – but I can’t guarantee it as I have not tried this before.
These cookies are very good. I am thinking about making them again, but adding white chocolate chips. Is there any reason this would not be advisable?
Hi Sue,
I don’t see why adding chocolate chips would be unadvisable – good luck! 🙂