Vegan Lemon Cookies (Easy 5-ingredient Recipe)
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!
Servings: 12 cookies
Calories: 174kcal
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.
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
Nutrition
Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.5mg