Fruit Salad
Ali Slagle
354 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
354
20 minutes
Chewy Lemon Cookies
Updated April 24, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:12 large cookies
- 4teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Juice of ½ lemon (about 1½ tablespoons), plus zest of 4 lemons
- 1½ cups/180 grams all-purpose flour
- ½cup/90 grams cornmeal, preferably medium-grind for polenta
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1cup/227 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup/50 grams for coating
- 1large egg
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
338 calories; 16 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 29 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 179 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center. Line 2 or 3 sheet pans with parchment paper. The cookies are baked in 3 batches because they spread dramatically, but the first sheet pan can be reused after it’s cooled if you don’t have a second or third.
- Step 2
Place the rosemary in your smallest bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice to prevent the rosemary from browning.
- Step 3
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar.
- Step 4
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy, about 1 minute. (You can also do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) Add 1½ cups/300 grams sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 5
Add the egg, lemon zest and rosemary mixture and combine on low speed. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. If the dough is very soft, refrigerate it for 15 minutes to firm up.
- Step 6
Divide the dough into 12 even pieces, form into balls, then roll each one in the remaining ¼ cup/50 grams sugar. Space 3 or 4 cookies an equal distance apart on each sheet pan.
- Step 7
Bake each pan 1 at a time on the center rack. When the dough has spread and puffed in the center, after 8 minutes, lift one side of the sheet pan up about 4 inches and drop it so it bangs against the oven rack, then rotate the pan and lift and drop again. You will see the dough ripple as it falls. Continue to bake until the edges are golden brown but the centers remain pale and fudgy, 6 to 8 minutes longer.
- Step 8
Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Kate
My son generously called these cookies “interesting.” The recipe is now deleted and I will not make them again. Maybe it was my execution, but the polenta feels like sand, the cookies are greasy, and the rosemary is slightly off-putting. I’m not a fan.
Nicola
Can you bake these as smaller cookies? I like the description of the flavour but not the size.
KK
Cardamom could be a good substitute if you're not a fan of Rosemary.
kyle.
You don't need to weigh these to get 12 even cookies. Cut the dough into thirds and then cut each of those 3 into quarters. Fractions aren't that tough.
e
Nicola, I have made the chocolate chip cookies referenced here using this technique and can’t wait to try this one. While you can make these cookies any size, this size/technique yields a crunchy edge with a creamy center. Absolutely wonderful and not the same with the smaller size. This is a cookie for breaking apart and sharing since I agree that it’s way too large to eat by oneself.
Raindrop
Another way to do it would be to just take the entire hunk of dough and cut it into twelve pieces either in one go or by dividing in half, then half again, then each into thirds.
Mrs. MacGreco
I made these (without the rosemary) and loved the taste and texture. I used a 3/4 oz. scoop, and they all spread to 4" diameter -- I can't imagine how big they'd be if I'd used 3 oz. of dough for each. They were thin and lacy like Florentines. I used a scale, so I don't believe I weighed incorrectly. I had better luck using an insulated cookie sheet and freezing each batch of balls before baking. I imagine the high percentage of butter to flour is what is making them spread so much.
Leah
Could you please give us a more specific size? Are you thinking golf ball size? Baseball? How the heck are we to make them, weigh each one? Not happening in this kitchen. Lemon is my dessert favorite, but these sound too complicated to make with weighing.
jp
For the Medium grind cornmeal -can you actually use polenta or is it the cornmeal used for corn muffins? Thanks !
jocelyn
Made these this weekend and they are a hit. Love the flavor, the lemon and rosemary are such a delicious combination. We didn't want giant cookies so we opted to make 2 dozen smaller ones and they're perfect. The pan banging still works on a smaller size cookie.
td
For the choc chip version, I bake them the specified size, then cut them into quarters (X thru the middle). Every piece gets outside and inside textures. Will do the same here
AprJer
No. They are not substitutes.
Sub For Rosemary
KK, thank you. Cardamom is a great idea to substitute
Julie
I've baked a lot of cookies and feel that any recipe's portion size, including this one, can be made smaller. You may not get the same texture and the pan banging technique may not work with a smaller scoop, but I bet they'll still taste yummy.
Jim
Same here. I'm going to divide the dough into 24 pieces, not 12 pieces. I can't think of a reason why that wouldn't work.
Alyssa
The polenta is too course of a texture
Chris
A few subs: I left out the cream of tartar, used a finer grind of cornmeal and made them gluten-free with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour. They turned out awesome. I think polenta makes the cookies a little too mealy, and leaving out the cream of tartar allows the lemon to really shine. Would also recommend some good sea salt for the top!
Walter
I love the flavour, but mine came out cakey in the center, rather than chewy. I would like chewy, what did I do wrong?
bridget s
I had the blueberry and cornmeal cookie at Little Tart and became obsessed. I used this recipe without cream of tartar, zest from only one lemon (instead of four) and a whole pack of freeze dried blueberries from Trader Joe’s and these came out perfectly!
Amy
I am having trouble with these cookies. Love the flavor but they are not turning out as pictured. I have checked my oven temp and it is correct. the edges turn to lacy brittle and the middles are goey, not soft. Cooking longer causes the cookies to just be brittle in the center. I have tried baking from frozen, and baking after 15 minutes in the fridge. Is anyone else getting this result? Fixes?
Bay Area home cook
These are ok but not great. I reduced the butter slightly, but they still ended up with an excessively greasy feel and taste. I did make them slightly smaller--they spread to 4-5inches wide. The tastes go well together but the texture is unpleasant
Lauren
First and foremost: this is a savory cookie. If that's not your jam, move along. If a more savory dessert is interesting to you, give these cookies a whirl. They're delicious and remind me of a lemon olive oil cake with a little more chew. One thing to be aware of: these cookies spread. A lot. So, space accordingly or make the cookies smaller. Also, make sure to really chop up that rosemary - blends into the cookie better. If you're into different kinds of flours, try sonora with this recipe.
Jon Hayes
Wanted to love! Flavor and chewiness is great, but mine spread way too much. I recommend definitely chilling to the dough portioning into 40-45g pieces.
Anita
These cookies came out delicious. I will make sure to follow the suggestion to put them into the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up. They spread out quite a bit. I used regular Albers cornmeal and they came out yummy and chewy. I actually think they could have used a bit more rosemary. This recipe will be a regular bake.
Tessa
The 85g balls made enormous cookies that ran together. I switched to 30g balls and could still only get 6 on a half sheet without having them run together. Not bad. Not great. Very greasy. Glad it is Saturday because most of these will go to church for coffee hour tomorrow. And they will be eaten!
Karin DeArmas
I saw someone mentioned their version came out more Florentine like and knew that was what I was after. I made each ball a bit smaller than a golf ball and got about 30-35 cookies out of the batch. Other changes I made: Whole wheat flour (it's what I keep on hand) 1/4 cup lemon olive oil+1/2 cup olive oil instead of butter 1 cup sugar and skipped the final step of coating the cookies Used ~1/4 cup fresh rosemary; increased lemon zest On 2nd batch and love the results!
NR
The flavours here are quite harsh and very greasy. And the cookies just too big, they ended up gluing together even with only 4 to a baking sheet: 3oz dough per cookie is way too much and will; not give 12 cookies.
AnnetteK
I made these today. Followed the instructions exactly except for dividing the dough into 12... Used my regular cookie scoop and placed them >=2" apart on the cookie sheets, which was good because they really flattened out. Tasty, and would possibly make again, but not at all chewy when cooled.
Valerie
Very much fun! We like cornmeal and rosemary so didn't mind the texture and the rosemary flavor is quite subtle. Just needs more lemon juice. Made half the recipe, got six 5- inch cookies.
SJ
These were fabulous and my new favorite cookies. However, I made two changes. First, I took the cookie weight down to 25 grams each. I did the first batch at 30 grams and put eight dough balls on the sheet, only to end up with one huge cookies. 85 grams make no sense. Second, while I refrigerated the dough between making the balls, I also refrigerated the formed dough balls for 15 minutes before putting the pan in the oven. It prevented too much spreading and they were the perfect size.
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