Get ready for a nice treat with these delicious vegan lemon cookies! They are perfectly zesty with a nice texture that will remind you of a shortbread cookie. The fact that they only require a few simple ingredients makes me love them even more!

Close up on a few vegan lemon cookies that are topped with lemon zest and surrounded with lemon slices. The cookies are on a cooling rack.

We are big fans of all things lemon in here, so it's about time I make more lemony desserts! Well, I just shared a dragon fruit lemonade, but really, it's delicious and stunning looking and refreshing and all, but it does not count for dessert.

I'm talking about an epic cookie recipe to impress skeptical non-vegan friends. I-can't-stop-at-one kind of lemon cookies.

OR, should I call them shortbread lemon cookies? They have that same buttery and crumbly texture that pretty much just melts in your mouth, but without feeling dry at all. Are you starting to feel tempted?

But wait, there is even more exciting news. They only require 5 ingredients to make. Five. I'm still amazed at how these cookies can be so darn delish with such an amazing texture by combining only 5 simple ingredients.

Showing are 4 vegan lemon cookies pilled on top of each other. The very top one has one bite taken off and has a sprinkle of lemon zest. There are more cookies in the background as well as lemon slices and a cup of tea.

Soooo, what's the trick? Coconut oil! This is the key ingredient you won't want to swap for anything else when making this recipe. The cookies won't taste coconut at all if you make sure to use the refined kind of oil, but it will give that shortbread consistency that matches so well with the fragrant tangy lemon flavor.

Is coconut oil healthy? Not really. But you see, most days the oil-free healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies will be just what you need. But for all the other ones, remember, yummy.vegan.lemon.cookies.

What you'll need

This cookie recipe is completely eggless and dairy-free.

White whole wheat flour
Coconut sugar
Coconut oil (use refined if possible)
Lemon
Vegan milk
(+ Salt)

How to make these vegan lemon cookies

They are very easy to make, but you will need to follow a few simple steps to get the perfect texture.

Combine the coconut sugar, coconut oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Then, using a fork, mash the ingredients until it looks as uniform as possible. There are still going to have a few tiny clumps of coconut oil, but as long as they are small, it's fine.

In process picture: There is a hand holding on a fork to mash on the ingredients to form the dough.

In process picture: there is a hand mashing with a fork a brown mixture made with coconut oil, lemon juice and coconut sugar.

Then, to the coconut oil mixture, add the flour, salt and vegan milk. Keep mashing/stirring to incorporate the dry ingredients, this will take a few minutes. The dough will look super dry, but resist the temptation to add more milk! Keep mashing until it looks just about combined and then, using your hands, form a large ball with the dough. Watch the quick video to get the feeling of what I mean.

In process picture: there is a hand mashing the dough in a bowl using a fork

Using 2 tablespoons at the time, roll the dough in small balls and transfer to a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Keep going until you used all of the dough (it should give you about 12 balls). Then, using your hands, gently press on the balls to form a disc of about ½ inch thick. It will crack on the side of the cookies, that's fine. Just press on the cracks if they are too big. The cookies will puff a bit when cooking, but will mostly keep their shape.

In process picture: you can see 2 hands that are rolling a dough to form a ball. In the back ground, you can see more balls on a baking sheet.

In process picture: There are a few cookies on a baking sheet and you can see a hand pressing on them to shape them in a disc.

Then, transfer the whole baking sheet to the fridge to cool the cookies for at least 20 minutes. This is an important step to harden the coconut oil, which will prevent the oil from oozing out while cooking, so do not skip this step.

Once the chilling time is done, bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then allow the cookies to cool down before eating. They will feel quite soft when just out of the oven, so let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer on a cooling rack if you have one.

Watch how to make them

Tips when making these vegan lemon cookies

I would consider myself more of a moderate level of zesty flavor tolerant, but if you are looking for a big kick of tangyness, then don't hesitate to add more lemon zest (do not add more lemon juice though).
Also, to stay in the shortbread cookie theme, they are not overly sweet. So, if you want a cookie that's more on the sweeter side, then you could sprinkle some extra coconut sugar on top before cooking them.
Try using the "spoon and level" method to measure the flour, so you don't add more flour than the recipe is asking for and end up with cookies that are overly dense (or worse, dry).
Again, do not substitute the coconut oil for any other kind of oil. It is essential for the final wow texture. If you don't want to have any coconut flavor in these cookies, then choose the refined coconut oil. If you only have the unrefined kind, that's fine too as the lemon flavor with go well with a hint of coconut taste.

Front view on a cooling rack that has a few vegan lemon cookies on top. The cookies are topped with lemon zest and there are a few lemon slices on the side. You can also see a cup of tea in the background.

Why are these cookies brown

I use this white whole wheat flour from King Arthur when baking. I find it to be somehow in between the all purpose processed white flour and the super coarse whole wheat one, which is super hard to bake with. It does turn baked goods to more of a brown color though.

Also, I never use white sugar (unless on extra special occasions, of course!), but choose coconut sugar instead when I need a granulated texture for sweetener. Sugar is sugar and any kind should be limited to a minimum, but I like how coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index and is less processed than the table sugar kind. The natural dark brown color of coconut sugar also influences the color of these cookies.

Serving ideas

Ok, I'll admit that you probably don't need any suggestions on how to serve cookies.

BUT, I absolutely had to mention how much they are amazing with a cup of warm tea. I also love to add some extra lemon zest on top (or go ahead and top them with frosting, that's fine, we won't know)

Also, these cookies can easily be turned into vegan lemon poppy seed cookies! Simply add some poppy seeds into the dough when mashing with the fork or sprinkle some on top of the cookies before cooling them down making sure to gently press on them so the seeds stick to the dough.

Storage

Keep the cookies at room temperature for 2-3 days. Cool them completely first, then transfer to a air-tight container so they don't dry up during storage.

If you want to keep them longer, then store in the fridge for up to a week (also in a covered container). They will harden a little more in that case because of the coconut oil, but I thought it was actually a great texture when super cold.

More vegan cookie recipes you might like

More lemon dessert recipes to try

I hope you enjoy these vegan lemon cookies as much as we do! If you try them, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how they were. Your feedback is so helpful!

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There are a few vegan lemon cookies that are cooling down on a cooling rack. The cookies are sprinkled with lemon zest. There are slices of lemon around the cookies as well as a cup of tea and a yellow hand towel.

Vegan Lemon Cookies (Easy 5-ingredient Recipe)

5 from 1 vote

PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Chill time20

Total Time40

Servings cookies

Author Jessica Laroche

Ingredients

2 cups white whole wheat flour
⅔ cup coconut sugar
½ cup coconut oil - hard, do not substitute
4 tbsp lemon juice
zest from 2 lemons
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp vegan milk

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut sugar, coconut oil, lemon juice and lemon zest together using a fork. You will have to crush the coconut oil by mashing the ingredients to reach a smooth texture. Keep mashing/whisking until the mixture looks as uniform as possible, which might take 2 minutes or so (tiny clumps of coconut oil are ok).
Then, add the flour, salt and milk and keep mashing/stirring until the dough is combined. You can also use a spatula to scrape the side of the bowl to include all dried bits. It will look like a thick dough that feels dry, but that also easily forms a smooth ball when the dough is pressed together. Keep mixing until it comes together and then, form a large ball using your hands. It can take a minute or two of mashing to get to the right texture. (Watch the quick video to see how I do it)
Then, shape the cookies into small balls using 2 tbsp of the dough at the time and rolling them in between your hands. Transfer the balls to the baking sheet (you should have 12 balls). Keep going until you used all of the dough and then, press gently (use your hands) on the balls to shape a ½ inch thick cookie.
Transfer the baking sheet with the cookies in the fridge for 20 minutes to cool the cookies down before cooking them (this will harden the coconut oil and prevent the oil to ooze out, do not skip this step).
Then, cook for 10 minutes (straight from the fridge). The cookies will still feel super soft when done, but let them cool down on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to let them firm up a bit.

Video

Notes

Keep the cookies at room temperature for 2-3 days. Cool them completely first, then transfer to a air-tight container so they don't dry up during storage. If you want to keep them longer, then store in the fridge for up to a week (also in a covered container).
You can add more lemon zest for an extra tangy cookie (do not add more lemon juice though).
Also, to stay in the shortbread cookie theme, they are not overly sweet. So, if you want a cookie that's more on the sweeter side, then you could sprinkle some extra coconut sugar on top before cooking them.
Try using the "spoon and level" method to measure the flour, so you don't add more flour than the recipe is asking for and end up with cookies that are overly dense (or worse, dry).
Again, do not substitute the coconut oil for any other kind of oil. It is essential for the final wow texture. If you don't want to have any coconut flavor in these cookies, then choose the refined coconut oil. If you only have the unrefined kind, that's fine too as the lemon flavor with go well with a hint of coconut taste.

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