These crisp citrus sugar cookies are a yearly tradition in our house and something everyone looks forward to during the holidays. These citrus cookies have hints of orange and lemon, are very forgiving, easy to make, and are so addictive!
Why you'll love these crisp citrus cookies
I am a big fan of crisp sugar cookies and this citrus sugar cookie recipe is our favorite one to make at the holidays. These are lemon and orange cookies but with just a hint of those flavors in the dough to really elevate the flavor of these cookies.
These are the cookies I like to make when I want to add frosting or icing to my cookies. If I want a no icing cookie, I like to make my cinnamon snowball cookies or my nutmeg sugar cookies 🙂
For this citrus sugar cookie, it can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to roll and cut it out. You make a large batch of this citrus sugar cookie dough at the beginning of the month during the holiday season and bake up a batch each weekend. We also use it to make our citrus snowball cookies.
Let me show you how easy it is to make!
What You Will Need
Here is what you will need to make these citrus cookies (full recipe below):
Cookies:
- All-purpose flour: The base for the cookies. You can also use gluten-free 1:1 flour.
- Baking powder: This gives rise to the cookies.
- Kosher salt: Helps flavor the cookies.
- Unsalted butter: Adds flavor and texture.
- Lemon and orange: The citrus in these sugar cookies. You can use any citrus you love. Yuzu, mandarin, lime. Trust me based on experience, they all taste amazing! Just make sure to use a sweet citrus with a tart one.
- Granulated sugar: For sweetness.
- Egg: I use large eggs for all my baking. It helps bind together the ingredients and gives the cookie structure.
If you are making the icing:
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Icing sugar, sprinkles (for topping)
How to make these crisp sugar cookies
How I Like To Decorate These Crisp Cookies
- Icing design on cookies (design 1): You just need a squeeze bottle like the one in the picture to make these. Start drawing your lines starting from the center, and working out to the points of the snowflake. I like finishing the snowflake cookie design with white sugar pearls in the center and at all the tips.
- Totally iced sugar cookies (design 2): You just place the cookies upside down in a bowl of icing that is made from powdered sugar and milk. Carefully remove the iced cookies and place them right side up on a sheet pan where they will covered in sparkling icing sugar
Tips For The Best Citrus Cookies
- Dry dough: If the dough feels a little dry before rolling, do not add extra flour. You can grab a big chunk of the dough and squeeze it in your hands to warm it up a bit. This will help make the dough more pliable. Just keep doing this until the dough is ready to roll.
- Re-rolling: Like any cutout cookie recipe, you will be left with scraps after your first cuts with the cookie cutter. Go ahead and re-roll your dough and cut out some more shapes but only do this once. If you are not into re-rolling the cookie dough, these citrus snowball cookies are perfect to make with the scraps.
- Frosting: These crisp citrus cookies are the ideal base for frosting. I've included our favorite quick frosting (icing) recipe below.
Storing
These citrus cookies are stored very well in an air-tight container on the counter for up to one week. Perfect for cookie jars!
This dough also freezes really well. I like to freeze the dough for up to three months and thaw it overnight in the fridge when I am ready to use it.
More Cookie Recipes
Citrus Holiday Cookies
Ingredients
cookie dough
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- the zest of one lemon with a microplane or zester
- the zest of 1 orange with a microplane or zester
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar for icing
- 4 tablespoon milk plus more if needed
- icing sugar, sprinkles, white round candy balls for decorating
Instructions
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl.2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Using electric mixer, beat butter, lemon peel and orange peel in large bowl until light.¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature, the zest of one lemon, the zest of 1 orange
- Add sugar and powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.½ cup sugar, ¼ cup powdered sugar
- Beat in egg.1 large egg
- Add dry ingredients.
- Using spoon, stir until mixture forms dough (dough will be soft).
- Divide dough into thirds.
- Gather each third into a ball then flatten them into disks.
- Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly, if necessary, before rolling out.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before you are ready to roll it out. This helps soften it a bit for rolling.
- Generously flour work surface and rolling pin.
- Place 1 dough disk on work surface.
- Press rolling pin into dough several times to flatten slightly for easier rolling. Press together any cracks that form.
- Roll out dough to ⅛ inch thickness, frequently lifting and turning dough to prevent sticking. Using cookie cutters cut out cookies.
- Transfer cookies to ungreased nonstick baking sheets, spacing ½ inch apart.
- Bake until cookies turn brown on edges, about 10-15 minutes.
- Let cookies stand on sheets 1 minute. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. Once cooled you can proceed to the decorating part!
Make the quick icing
- Mix powdered sugar, and 2 tablespoon of milk in a large shallow bowl.1 cup powdered sugar for icing, 4 tablespoon milk, icing sugar, sprinkles, white round candy balls
- Make sure all of the sugar lumps are gone and the consistency is nice and smooth but not watery.
- If it is watery just add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until it thickens. If it is too thick add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until it thins.
- If you are adding coloring, add your food coloring and mix well
Adding the icing (quick and easy way)
- Take your cooled cookies and place them face down into the bowl of icing and carefully pull it out and place it right side up on a cooling rack to dry.
- The cookies after being iced will need at least 2 hours (or more depending on humidity) to dry fully.
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Gemma says
These were delicious!
Melissa says
So glad you enjoyed them!