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.
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 INFORMATIONThe 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.