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Vegan Lemon Cookies

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These Vegan Lemon Cookies are soft, chewy, buttery and deliciously fragrant. They melt in your mouth! 1-bowl cookies, made with staple ingredients and ready in under 25 minutes! A quick and super easy recipe that leads to perfect cookies every time.

Stack of cookies next to a halved lemon, placed on a parchment paper over a cooling rack.
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WHY MAKE THESE COOKIES

It requires only 1 bowl. One bowl, a whisk and a spatula is all you need to make this vegan lemon cookies. If you have an electric mixer, it will help you with the butter-sugar creaming, but it’s not indispensable for this recipe.

Only 9 staple ingredients needed. This is an uncomplicated recipe that requires basic pantry staples for your ingredients. Check out the recipe card below.

No chilling required. Refrigerating the cookie dough is not required, which means you can make the dough and have your first batch in the oven in no time.  

Oh, if you like easy and fun recipes, check these out: Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Vegan Sugar Cookies and Vegan Linzer Cookies.

Cookies on a parchment paper over a cooling rack, surrounded by lemons, a dish towel and a wooden squeezer.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Vegan Lemon Cookies: butter, sugar, applesauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt.

INGREDIENTS NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Plant based butter. I normally use Earth Balance. Make these vegan lemon cookies with your favourite vegan butter, this is a thick dough so the cookies will keep their shape.

Sugar. I’ve used organic cane sugar. Brown sugar or white granulated sugar works fine here too.

Applesauce. It’s a great substitute for the eggs in vegan baking. It doesn’t add any lift, but it helps with binding. You can either use Homemade Applesauce or store-bought.

Flour. Regular All-Purpose Flour is the one you need for this recipe.

Lemon juice. This recipe calls for fresh ingredients, like lemon juice and lemon zest, but feel free to use bottled lemon juice.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Step by step to make cookies: mix butter-sugar, add wet ingredients, sift in dry ingredients and mix.
  1. To make the cookies: preheat oven to 350ºF / 175ºC. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place butter and sugar into a mixing bowl.
  2. Beat until soft and creamy. 
  3. Add applesauce, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix until combined. 
  4. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt.
Step by step to make cookies: mix everything, form dough balls, bake.
  1. Stir until the dough is well combined.
  2. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough. Place each cookie scoop onto the lined baking sheet. Leave one inch between each one.
  3. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 
Stack of four cookies, the one on top is halved.

RECIPE FAQs

How long do these cookies last?

These vegan lemon cookies can last for up to a week in an airtight container, at room temperature. Place them in layers separated by a sheet of parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.

Can I use lemon extract instead of lemon juice?

Sure! Lemon extract is much more concentrated so I would start using just ½ teaspoon instead of 1 teaspoon lemon juice. If you’re also going to substitute the lemon zest, then add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the dough. 

Is there any substitute for applesauce?

There are several substitutes for applesauce in this recipe. Pureed apples, mashed bananas or vegan yogurt are some of the best alternatives. They have a similar consistency than applesauce. Substitute in a 1 to 1 ratio, except for the mashed bananas, in that case add ½ tablespoon of water or plant based milk to the dough. 

Cookies on a parchment paper over a cooling rack.

MORE COOKIES TO TRY

If you try this recipe don’t forget to rate it and let me know how it went in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.

RECIPE

Cookies on a parchment paper over a cooling rack, surrounded by lemons, a dish towel and a wooden squeezer.

Vegan Lemon Cookies

NATALIA @ SIMPLE GREEN RECIPES
These Vegan Lemon Cookies are soft, chewy, buttery and deliciously fragrant. They melt in your mouth! 1-bowl cookies, made with staple ingredients and ready in under 25 minutes! A quick and super easy recipe that leads to perfect cookies every time. 
5 from 13 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 14 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Dessert
Servings 12 cookies 3-inch
Calories 166 kcal

Equipment

  • Hand mixer or stand mixer
  • Mixing bowl
  • Silicone spatula
  • Cookie scoop (scoop diameter: 1.5 inch/3.9 cm)
  • Baking sheet
  • Parchment paper

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup plant based butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
  • 2 tablespoons applesauce, homemade or store-bought
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF / 175ºC, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. You can also use a hand mixer or beat it by hand.
  • Add the applesauce, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix well to ensure all the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  • Then, add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until just combined, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix until dough comes together, about 15 seconds.
  • Use a cookie scoop (ice cream scoop) to scoop the cookie dough out into balls, or roll de dough into 12 medium balls (2 tablespoons each). Place them on the lined cookie sheet, at least 1 inch apart from each other.
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies look barely golden but still soft. DO NOT OVERBAKE. 
  • Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 
  • Store in an airtight container for a week, at room temperature.

Notes

GLUTEN FREE OPTION. To make these vegan lemon cookies gluten-free, substitute all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose regular flour at a ratio of 1:1.
STORING THE COOKIES. These cookies can last for up to a week in an airtight container, at room temperature. Place them in layers separated by a sheet of parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.
FREEZING THE COOKIES. You can  freeze the vegan cookie dough for up to 3 months, transfer it to an airtight container and store in the freezer. To freeze the baked cookies, allow them to cool, place them on a baking sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag. Thaw at room temperature.
INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS. 
Plant based butter. I normally use Earth Balance. Use your favourite butter here, the dough is quite thick and the lemon cookies will keep their shape.
Sugar. I’ve used organic cane sugar. Brown sugar or white granulated sugar works fine too.
Applesauce. You can either use Homemade Applesauce or store-bought.
Lemon juice. This recipe calls for fresh ingredients, like lemon juice and lemon zest, but feel free to use bottled lemon juice.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. 
See our full nutrition disclosure. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 166kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 138mgPotassium: 25mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 338IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 5mgIron: 1mg
Keyword glutenfreelemoncookies, lemoncookies, veganlemoncookies
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Comments

  1. Victoria

    5 stars
    I just made these cookies with some Meyer lemon juice, and zest… these are OMG Amazing! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. It is definitely a keeper!
    I’ll be making these again soon for my grandchildren.

    Reply

    • Natalia

      Hi Victoria, this recipe is a beloved favorite here, I make it several times a year. Thank you for sharing your experience. It means the world to me!

      Reply

    • Natalia

      Hi, Nart! These are a family favorite too! As you mentioned they’re not bland nor too tangy, they’re just perfect. So happy you like them, thanks for the comment!

      Reply

      • Loli

        Also, can the applesauce be replaced for pear sauce? I’ve never tried pear in replacement but I imagine the acidic effect should be similar.

        Reply

        • Natalia

          Hi again Loli, I haven’t tried pear sauce in cookies either but since the aim of the fruit puree here is to substitute the eggs, and both applesauce and pear sauce have similar consistency, I’m pretty sure using pear sauce will work as well.

          Reply

      • Natalia

        Hi Loli, I have never tried making them with orange zest and juice, but I guess it will work just as fine. Both the zest and the juice are what add the flavor to these cookies, so you will get delicious orange cookies instead!

        Reply

  12. Veronika Sykorova

    5 stars
    These were really delicious! I used a gluten-free flour mix and they came out perfect! Thanks for the recipe, my family loved it!

    Reply

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