I’ve mentioned before that baking is my stress reliever. Around the holidays, I am like one of those cartoon tornadoes in the kitchen. I make hundreds of cookies, candies and other treats, and usually end up giving most of them away, because there’s no possible way we can ever eat them all ourselves.
So, naturally, when my friend Julie asked me if I wanted to be involved in her cookie recipe swap, I said, “Hecks yeah.”
I was paired up with Emily from It Bakes Me Happy {you must check out her site, it’s amazing. So many yummy recipes, you won’t know what to do with yourself}, and she sent me her Lemon Chewies recipe. {And I sent Julie one of my favorites — Chocolate-Mint Cookies. You need to check them out.}
I have to say, when I checked out the recipe, I was surprised by a few different things. First of all, I ADORE pretty much anything with lemon in it, but I never make lemon cookies around the holidays. Second, this recipe was vegan. Yeah. Vegan. I don’t think I’ve ever made anything purposely vegan in my whole life.
But I love trying out new things, so I got to it.
And they turned out awesome.
I did double and make a few tweaks to Emily’s recipe {mostly because I didn’t have lemon oil or flaxseed meal the day I made these, and it was about 15 degrees outside so there was no way I was going to the store}, but I did keep them vegan. Almost positive that it was the first time ever in my life that I baked something without butter in it, but they were delicious. Even my husband, who isn’t a huge fan of lemon cookies and who I’m pretty certain has never eaten a meal in his life that did not involve some type of meat or cheese, really liked these.
So if you’re looking for something quick, easy, and different, definitely try these out!
Lemon Chewies
Ingredients
- 1/2 c sugar plus more for rolling
- 1/2 c coconut oil
- 1 T fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 t lemon zest
- 3 T honey for truly vegan use molasses, agave or another plant based sweetener
- 2 c flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- 1. Preheat your oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- 2. Cream together the sugar and coconut oil until fluffy. Then mix in the lemon juice and zest, followed by the honey.
- 3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar mixture and mix until smooth.
- 4. Roll dough into 1" balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place onto the baking pan and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set and lightly browned.
Notes
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Jenn I am so glad that you all liked them! I wouldn’t have gone outing the cold for ingredients either 🙂
lemon in baked goods = YES! I loved doing the cookie swap, such fun to try new recipes.
In the event that you don’t have a cookie swap – or in ADDITION to…… we have local holiday donation websites in my area that include Senior, Veteran centers and nursing homes that request COOKIES for their residents! Check in your area!!! : ) Also – think about hospitals and hospices (which, by the way, the latter is mostly volunteers)- not for the patients – for the nurses! : ) Cheers!
This lemon cookie recipe looks good …..but I get confused sometimes when I see flour in a recipe list – is it referring to plain flour or self-raising flour? I want to try it and I want to get the best result.:)
Hi teefah! You want to use plain flour, not self-rising flour. Self-rising flour has baking powder and salt added to it, so it will affect the texture and taste of the cookies if you use it instead of all-purpose flour. Hope you like the cookies!
Should the coconut oil be melted or solid when you measure it? I just made these and while the flavor is fantastic, it was difficult to add in all of the flour and the texture seems a bit off (my coconut oil was solid).
Hi Jocelyn! I don’t think it matters if the oil is liquid or solid. When I made them, the coconut oil was solid. The dough will be a bit crumbly at first, but it should come together nicely the longer you mix it.
Aaah, that might explain it, lol! My impatience strikes again :). Thanks for the lightning fast reply and thanks for the recipe. A definite keeper!
Did you use a mixer or did you mix it by hand? Just finished making this recipe and they stayed balls and are not very chewy. More flakey and crumble when you bite into them. Still very tasty but not the consistency I was hoping for…
I can’t remember if I used my hand mixer or my KitchenAid stand mixer, but I definitely used a mixer. Sorry they didn’t turn out the way you were hoping! Maybe try a bit more coconut oil next time?
I tried making these cookies, but they were way too crumbly.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I didn’t have that problem when I made these cookies, but it seems that a few people have had trouble with this recipe. I am going to try to make them again to see if it works for me or if I have the same issue!
I’m sorry but these didn’t turned out very good. The dough was extremely crumbly and dried. I added more coconut oil and after bake they look like scones more than cookies. They don’t taste like lemon, more so like coconut oil. They’re very dry 🙁 Thanks for sharing the recipe tho, I know yours turned out good, so you wanted to share..
Jenn – just a heads up that your work is being “borrowed” here:
http://marrypins.com/lemon-chewies/
I just tried out this recipe and they did not turn out as crumbly as others said. I subbed in vegetable oil for coconut oil because I did not have any. They turned out great! However, I think I added a bit too much salt because they are a bit too salty. Great recipe though.
Do you know if these lemon cookies will freeze well? I need to make several batches for different cookie exchanges so I’m hoping to do one big day of baking then freeze in containers.