These Lemon Blueberry Cookies are tart, tangy and refreshing. If you are looking for a light and sweet spring time dessert, you should give these cookies a try. They are quick and easy to make with this no chill dough.
The citrusy, fruity blend of flavors in these lemon blueberry cookies are an easy spring dessert. They are great for snacking in the afternoon, or for baking up a large batch for cookouts, Easter and other occasions.
These are similar to these raspberry lemon cookies or these maraschino cherry cookies, both of which also have fruit pieces added right in.
🍪 Why To Try This Recipe
Light & Sweet - the flavor in these cookies is light, sweet and refreshing with a nice bit of tanginess.
No Chill Dough - with no chill time required for this dough, these cookies are quick and easy to make.
Easy to Customize - you can change up the flavors in this recipe super easily by adding chocolate, glaze or other things.
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🥄Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Large spoon or Spatula
- Cookie sheet
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoon
📋Ingredients
- Flour
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Eggs
- Butter - softened
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Vanilla Extract
- Lemon Extract
- Lemon Zest
- Blueberries - frozen
See recipe card for quantities.
📖Substitutions & Variations
Try out these ingredient substitutions and flavor variations to make these cookies suit your taste preferences and what you have available in your kitchen.
- Make them sugar cookies - instead of a typical cookie base, make them sugar cookies by using 2 cups of white sugar (and no brown sugar), using 2.73 cups of flour and rolling each ball of dough in white sugar before baking.
- Use different blueberries - instead of regular frozen blueberries try frozen wild blueberries (these are smaller in size), freeze dried blueberries (for a little crunch) or fresh blueberries (these tend to pop open more when baking).
- Add lemon juice - add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice in addition to the other ingredients, or in place of the zest or extract.
- Drizzle with glaze - ramp up the tangy lemon flavor even more by making an easy lemon glaze which is just 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice whisked together. Then drizzle it over the tops of the cookies.
- Add a little chocolate - mix in 1 cup of white chocolate chips to add a little chocolate flavor.
Want to make these super fast? Use these lemon cake mix cookies and then just toss in a cup of blueberries.
⏲️Instructions
Follow along with these step-by-step instructions and process shots to easily bake up a batch of these cookies.
Step one: grease your baking sheet and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Step two: Add softened butter, brown and white sugar into a mixing bowl.
Step three: Turn the mixer onto medium high speed for 2 - 3 minutes until the butter and sugar are creamed together.
Step four: Add lemon and vanilla extract, lemon zest and eggs into the mixing bowl. Mix on medium to low speed until well combined.
Step five: Add in baking soda, salt and flour. Mix on low, scraping down the sides for a minute or two until it is well combined.
Step six: Carefully and gently fold the blueberries into the dough.
Step seven: Scoop dough into 1.5 teaspoon sized balls, place them on the baking sheet. Then, bake for around 12 minutes or until edges are light brown.
Hint: allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing them. They will continue to cook as they cool.
⭐Recipe Tips for Success
- Don't thaw the blueberries - if you let the frozen blueberries thaw they get really wet and this makes the dough too soggy. It will cause the cookies to spread thin and be messy. Make sure you use fully frozen blueberries - folding them in as the last step before baking your dough.
- Don't smash the blueberries - when folding them into the dough, be very gentle. If you smash the blueberries they will make the dough soggy and spread as they bake. Try to keep the whole as you mix them in.
- Zest carefully - when you zest the lemon make sure not to get any of the white part (pith) as this is bitter and won't leave a nice zesty flavor.
- Don't overmix the dough - you should always be careful not to overmix cookie dough. However, due to the moisture in the blueberries, this is really important for these cookies. Overmixed dough can lead to flat, thin cookies. Use the minimum speed and time to incorporate the ingredients.
Storage
Store these cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Note that they will soften as they sit due to the moisture in the blueberries. It is not recommended to keep the dough in the fridge as the blueberries will thaw and get wet and messy.
Freeze the dough wrapped in cling wrap and packaged in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
Freeze the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to a year. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
💭FAQ
Yes, you can make these lemon blueberry cookies in advance, but do be aware that the moisture in the blueberries will soften them up as they sit over a day or so.
You can use fresh, frozen or freeze dried blueberries. Choosing smaller blueberries is better than super large ones due to the excess moisture. Additionally, when using frozen blueberries make sure they have not thawed at all. Fresh blueberries should be dried completely.
Yes, you can use just 1 tablespoon per ball of dough (dial back cook time by 2 - 3 minutes) or you can go up to 2 - 2.5 tablespoons per ball of dough (cook for a few minutes longer).
Lemon Blueberry Cookies
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- cookie sheet
- Stand or Hand Mixer
- Large spoon or spatula
- Measuring Spoon
- Measuring Cup
Ingredients
- .75 cups Blueberries frozen - not thawed
- 2.5 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Butter softened
- 1.25 teaspoons Baking Soda
- .25 teaspoons Salt
- 1.25 Cups White Sugar
- .75 Cups Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If the cookie sheet needs to be greased, do so now with cooking spray or butter.
- Take the 1 cup of softened butter, 1.25 cups of white sugar and .75 cups of brown sugar and add them to the mixing bowl.Pro tip: you should be able to press the butter and leave an indentation if it is softened. This takes about an hour on the counter for a whole stick, 30 mins on the counter if cut into chunks. Or, in the microwave on defrost for 15 seconds, flip and 15 seconds (do not let it melt).
- Put the mixer on medium high for about 2 minutes to cream the butter and sugar together. It will be well combined, lighter and fluffier.
- Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to the mixing bowl.
- Mix on medium low speed for a minute or until well combined.
- In another bowl, add 2.5 cups of flour, 1.25 teaspoons of baking soda and .25 teaspoons of salt.
- Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Mix until there are no longer flour streaks.
- Take .75 cups of frozen blueberries and gently fold them into the dough.
- Use a cookie scoop of tablespoon to scoop out balls of dough about 1.5 tablespoons in size.
- You can roll the dough in your hands to make it tighter and more uniform.
- Place balls of dough a few inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 14 minutes or until edges are light brown and firm.
- Allow cookies to cool, centers will firm up as they cool.
Notes
- Don't thaw blueberries - if you let the frozen blueberries thaw they will generate a lot of moisture which will lead to soggy, wet dough. This will cause the cookies to spread and be wet and thin.
- Fold blueberries carefully - you want to keep the blueberries whole and not let them thaw as you mix them in. So, just gently fold them into the dough.
- Don't zest too far - if you zest the lemon down too far you will hit the pith (white part of the lemon) which is bitter. You don't want the pith included in the zest or it will affect the flavor.
- Make sugar cookies - make a sugar cookie by using 2 cups of white sugar (leave out brown sugar, using 2.75 cups of flour and rolling each ball of dough in white sugar before baking.
- Add extra flavor - you can add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for more lemon flavor, drizzle each cookie with a lemon glaze or even add 1 cup of white chocolate chips.
- Keep cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. They will soften some due to the moisture in the blueberries. It is not recommended to store uncooked dough in the fridge because the blueberries will thaw.
- Freeze the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to a year. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
- Freeze the dough wrapped in cling wrap and packaged in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Defrost for a few hours in the fridge.
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
