I have to confess…
As much as I love making homemade cookies entirely from scratch (which is what I do about 95% of the time), on occasion I still seriously enjoy a good cake-mix cookie. I know…judge away… :) But hey – they’re simple, wonderfully fluffy, and can be mixed up in just three minutes. Definitely a nice back-up dessert, especially when you’re short on time!
One of my favorites, that is also most requested from friends, are these simple lemon cookies. They’re made with a basic cake mix recipe, but kicked up a notch with some fresh lemon juice and peel – yum. Feel free to roll them in sugar, glaze them (as explained in the tip below), or just cook and eat them plain. I guarantee they won’t last long. :)
Easy Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- juice of half a lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
- zest of half a lemon (about 1 tsp.)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar for decor (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon juice and zest until well blended. Form dough into small balls (about 1 Tbsp.), and drop into a bowl of confectioners’ sugar. Roll them around until they’re lightly covered. Once sugared, place on a lightly-greased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.
- **To get a rounder, fluffier cookie, let the dough refrigerate at least 30 minutes. (You can also prepare the sugared balls of dough on the cookie sheet, and just refrigerate the sheet for about ten minutes for a similar effect.)
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Ali’s Tip:
For a fun variation, I’ve also drizzled these with a lemon glaze (instead of rolling in the powdered sugar). Just whisk together about 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (or water) with 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and then drizzle it over the cookies after they have come out of the oven. Let sit for an hour or so for the glaze to firm up.
Do these freeze well, for later use?
As with any cake mix cookie, these are only as good as the mix itself. We used Betty Crocker and really didn’t care for the fake lemon flavor. Do you have any preferred brands? Texture was great, and I can see how this would be a nice recipe with the right cake mix.
Can I freeze these before baking instead of refrigerate? Just defrost a bit before baking?
Amazing! I double the recipe but use a lemon and a strawberry cake mix to do strawberry lemonade. It makes a lot so I usually ball them all and roll in powdered sugar then freeze what I don’t make. I’ve had no issues baking them from frozen. Great recipe! Lots of ways to make it your own! Thanks for this!
They are very good. Thank you for the recipe
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I used ½ the sugar on the recipe and still found them extremely sweet.
My daughter made these for me. I ate most of the batch. Ummmm, they’re absolutely delish. Will make these many times I’m sure.
For milder flavor just use 1 Tbs lemon zest.
Awesome easy recipe !! Delicious cookie !
A win win !!!!