Lemon Cooler Cookies combine melt-in-your-mouth lemon shortbread cookies with a sweet and zesty powdered lemonade coating! Loaded with tangy lemon goodness, they are a nostalgic favorite made easily at home.
Do you remember Lemon Cooler Cookies? They used to sell them in the cookie aisle at the grocery store, but somewhere along the way they stopped making them. So I had to start making them myself!
The buttery lemon shortbread cookie melts in your mouth, while the sweetened powdered lemonade coating delivers a refreshing zing. I make them every summer and we never get tired of them!
Key Ingredients Needed
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- All Purpose Flour: Measure your flour correctly to avoid dense cookies. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife instead of scooping straight from the bag, which can pack in too much flour and result in dry dough.
- Butter: It needs to be room temperature, so don’t forget to set it out on the kitchen counter for an hour or so prior to using.
- Lemon: You’ll need both freshly squeezed lemon juice AND lemon zest for the best flavor. Avoid bottled lemon juice, which can have a muted taste.
- Powdered Lemonade: Think Country Time lemonade, Kool-Aid lemonade, etc. I don’t personally like the taste of these cookies with an artificially sweetened lemonade mix (like Crystal Light).
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Tips For Making Lemon Cooler Cookies
You can prep these cookies for the oven in just about 10 minutes! Below are some helpful tips and tricks, scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full instructions.
Make sure your butter is truly softened before you start. Room temperature butter blends more smoothly with the sugar, helping you create a good shortbread dough. If the butter is too cold, it won’t incorporate properly, and if it’s melted, the cookies can spread too much while baking.
Don’t skip the lemon zest! It adds intense citrus flavor that really shines in these cookies. Use a microplane zester to grate only the yellow part of the lemon peel (avoiding the bitter white pith).
If your dough feels too sticky to roll, just pop it in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. The butter will firm up, making it much easier to shape your cookies without the mess.
Flatten each dough ball slightly before baking. You can use your hand or the flat bottom of a glass. This helps the cookies bake evenly and ensures a more uniform shape for that classic “lemon cooler cookie” look.
Make sure the cookies are still warm (but not hot) when you toss them in the powdered lemonade and sugar mixture. This helps the coating stick beautifully without melting or clumping.
Lemon Cooler Cookies
Ingredients
Lemon Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Coating
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon powdered lemonade
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter, powdered sugar and granulated sugar. Beat in egg, then stir in vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Fold in flour mixture until well combined.
- Using 1 heaping tablespoon of dough, roll dough into balls, and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Slightly flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass (or your hand) into a disk.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Cookies will not be brown, however the centers will be puffy and will no longer look raw.
- While cookies are baking, combine powdered sugar and powdered lemonade in a gallon size ziplock bag. Set aside.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch. Transfer a few at a time and shake to coat in powdered sugar mixture. Serve immediately or let cool completely before storing.
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Notes
Nutrition
Categories:
More Easy Lemon Dessert Recipes To Try
- Classic lemon bars with shortbread crust are always a delight!
- Rich, creamy lemon cheesecake is topped with the best lemon curd.
- Lemon meringues are as delicious as they are pretty!
- These dreamy lemon ricotta pancakes are so light and fluffy.
- Make a zesty, glazed lemon bread that will disappear fast.
- Mini lemon meringue pies are sweet bite-sized treats.
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Are these like the Charles Chips lemon cookies?
YES! Except Charles Chips lemon cookies had plain powdered sugar…that is how I make mine. 🙂
I have never tried a Charles Chips lemon cookie – so I sadly can’t tell you.
Ha ah. . . i love that comment about “crack cookies” i may have to steal it. but have you considered companies like Kudos Delivered to find somehting new and interssting? we used them for my wedding and found they do all sorts of little things like this at retial level. Can’t calim to have had any crakc like addictions to their output but their claim to be the “best caters” is not a million miles off base. good luck in your search.
Sunshine Bakery went out of business. Saddest day of my life! 🙁 I was a Lemon Cooler addict!! There is NO substitute, no other lemon cooler knockoff measures up! Girl Scouts were close but they stopped making those too grrr! There was also a Cherry Cooler which I liked but only found those once in a store. I make a killer Wedding cookie. My neighbor calls them “crack”cookies” because they are totally addictive. I’m going to do some lemon cookies and hopefully mine will at least compare to the original Lemon Coolers. Wish me luck!
Recipe please share ☺
These look like the perfect cookies for a picnic! Not that it’s picnic weather here in Denver, but–oh wait, yes it is! Denver weather is crazy like that!
Oh! I remember these cookies! My grandmother used to always have them at her house. Trying these this weekend. Will report back.
I am confused about the use of the lemon kool-aid. Why not just use powdered sugar?
You can definitely use just powdered sugar if you would prefer, however the original cookies had a delicious tart lemon-y flavor to them. It really sets these cookies apart from other cookies and is so easy and cheap to do with Kool-Aid!
I’m a chef and this is pretty much exactly how we used to make these. I used to work for a company called Jobs2go and they had a training base that was designed to get these kinds of snakes deserts taught as a specialty. Try them with Lime instead of lemon ! its got more of a kick.
That is so cool to hear that I am so close to how these used to be made! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
Shortbread + Lemon? LOVE!
I love all the recipes you always do with Dixie Crystals. They are some of my favorites! Making the Bourbon Chicken from last month for dinner tonight!
These totally look like melt-in-your-mouth cookies!! So yummy!