Lemon Cookies

Serves a Party of 10

Summertime has finally arrived, and I’ve got a lovely lemon cookie recipe here for ya’ll to enjoy on the warmer days ahead. I made them just the other day and enjoyed them on my balcony, and boy did they hit the spot. Being a huge sucker for anything lemon flavored, it was mandatory for me to make something sweet and zesty this time of year. Not to say that these can’t be enjoyed in the cooler months, but for some reason within the first bite it felt incredibly satisfying and refreshing.

These cookies are made with cassava flour, coconut sugar, chia seeds, baking powder, vegan butter, oat milk, lemon extract, lemon zest, and salt that I gently stirred together until super crumbly. After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, I baked them on a large baking sheet covered in parchment paper for 15 minutes, leaving them to be perfectly chewy and delicious.

You may be wondering why I would add chia seeds to them, and to be honest here, it was a last minute decision that I thought would add a special and personal touch to them. Chia seeds are powerful little fellas packed with healthy fats and protein, and made the texture of the cookies even more appetizing.

My recipe makes about 20 cookies depending on your size preference, and I even made a homemade vanilla glaze to be drizzled over them made with powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and the tiniest bit of oat milk to be stirred until you get a creamy consistency. The glaze is totally optional, as I know powdered sugar is not the best for our bodies, but with all of the other lovely ingredients being so light and on the healthy side, I figured why the heck not spice things up a bit.

Being relatively new to the baking world, and still facing challenges here and there, I was torn between using actual lemon juice instead of lemon extract, but honestly had no idea if I could even do that or if it would affect the outcome of the fully baked cookies. I went with my gut and just used some organic lemon extract from Whole Foods and it definitely did not disappoint, and maybe next time I can get a little crazy and test out the freshly squeezed lemon juice to see what happens.

Ingredients:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Add cassava flour, coconut sugar, chia seeds, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and whisk together.

Fold in the butter, oat milk, lemon extract, and lemon zest, then gently stir until you have a crumbly batter. Use your hands if you have to, and maybe even check out the picture I have above for an idea of what it should look like.

Roll about 20 cookies into a ball shape and lay down on a large baking sheet with some parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches between each cookies, even if you have to use a second baking sheet.

If you don’t have parchment paper, simply drizzle down a tablespoon of neutral oil(I’d recommend using avocado oil if ya can).

Bake for 15 minutes and allow the cookies to cool before drizzling down the vanilla glaze.

Ingredients for the Vanilla Drizzle:

Stir all ingredients until fully creamy, then drizzle the cookies after they have cooled for at least around 10 to 20 minutes. I used an electric hand mixer to ensure there were no chunks, and also used a squeeze bottle for the perfect drizzle.