Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 26 Comments
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TheseGluten-Free Vegan Lemon Cookies are soft and chewy, slightly fluffy and perfectly tangy and citrusy. They're covered in a rich, creamy lemon frosting too! They're also refined sugar free, come together in one bowl and the dough doesn't require chilling. A delicious sweet treat for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
There are many different types of Lemon Cookies, including crinkle cookies and Italian-style lemon cookies, but I decided to make ones that are a bit like Sugar Cookies: they're soft, slightly fluffy and a little chewy. A creamy frosting adds extra lemon flavour and richness.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to thebottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together the ingredients for the cookie dough in aglass mixing bowl.
Tip: If the dough looks too wet: place it in the fridge for an hour to help it firm up. If it looks too dry: add a splash of any type of plant-based milk.
- Use your hands to shape the cookie dough into patties - you should be able to make 7 large cookies.
Tip: To make super fluffy cookies, I like to make sure the centre part of the cookie is slightly thicker than the rest, like in a dome shape. And don't worry, unlike traditional cookies, these ones won't spread as they bake.
- Transfer the cookies onto a rectangular baking tray.
Tip: Line the baking tray with greased baking paper to make sure the cookies don't stick.
- Bake in oven for around 10-12 minutes, until very lightly browned - be careful not to over-bake!
- They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven - leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting.
- Don't worry about the cracks on top - I found it was impossible to make these vegan and gluten-free lemon cookies without the cracks forming on top. The cracks don't affect the taste or the texture at all, and the yummy lemon frosting will completely cover them up!
How to make the frosting
- Place the ingredients for the frosting in afood processororblender.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
- Taste and add extra lemon juice and/or maple syrup if necessary.
- Use a knife to spread a bit of frosting over each of the cookies.
How long do these Lemon Cookies keep for?
These Lemon Cookies do taste best when fresh, but keepcovered in thefridge for up to afew days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can replace thecoconut oilwithcoconut butter.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace thegluten-free flourwith rice flour.
- If you don't need the cookies to be gluten-free,you can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour.
- The ground almonds can be replaced with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and omit the frosting or make a coconut cream-based cream cheese frosting!
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- For the cookies, I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the frosting, I would recommend tasting it as you're making it and adding extra lemon juice if necessary.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
More gluten-free vegan cookie recipes
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Chocolate Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Millionaire Shortbread
- Orange Cookies
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Linzer Cookies
- Homemade Oreos
- Brownie Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Cookies
TheseGluten-Free Vegan Lemon Cookies are soft and chewy, slightly fluffy and perfectly tangy. They're covered in a rich, creamy lemon frosting too! A delicious sweet treat for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
3.98 from 41 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free lemon cookies, gluten-free vegan cookies, vegan lemon cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 7 large cookies
Calories: 403kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
- 10 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (make sure lemons are unwaxed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
For the frosting:
- 75 g (½ cup) cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
Add the maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla, and mix well.
Measure out the dry ingredients (ground almonds, gluten-free flour and baking powder)and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until you get a soft dough but one that’s firm enough to mould.
If the dough looks too wet, placing it in the fridge for an hour will help it firm up. If it looks too dry, add a splash of any type of plant-based milk.
Use your hands to shape the cookie dough into patties - you should be able to make 7 large cookies. To make super fluffy cookies, I like to make sure the centre part of the cookie is slightly thicker than the rest. And don't worry, unlike traditional cookies, these ones won't spread as they bake.
Transfer the cookies onto a baking tray/baking sheet lined with greased baking paper.
Bake in oven for around 10-12 minutes, until very lightly browned - be careful not to over-bake!
They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven - leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting.
For the frosting:
Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
Taste and add extra lemon juice and/or maple syrup if necessary.
Use a knife to spread a bit of frosting over each of the cookies.
Taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
*You can alternatively use almond flour.
Don't worry about the cracks on top - I found it was impossible to make these vegan and gluten-free lemon cookies without cracks forming on top. The cracks don't affect the taste or the texture at all, and the yummy lemon frosting will completely cover them up!
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 403Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Sodium 6mg0%
Potassium 245mg7%
Carbohydrates 52g17%
Fiber 5g20%
Sugar 28g31%
Protein 9g18%
Vitamin C 10mg12%
Calcium 135mg14%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Heidi
What would you recommend as a substitute for oil if you are not cooking with any oils or vegan butter?
Reply
Rhian Williams
You could use applesauce instead of oil!!
Dr J
Thank you for such an easy yet tasty recipe. I luv it !!I used oat flour instead of a flour blend and I just added it to the almond flour. It came out absolutely perfect. Great consistency just like you explained. I will be making this again
😉
Happy holidaysReply
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Lin
very lemony and so light! ♥️ my frosting wasn't as good as the pic, had to add some icing sugar as it was very runny but very tasty 😊Reply
Rhian Williams
thank you so much, so happy to hear that! Regarding the frosting, I think the issue could've been that your blender wasn't powerful enough, or you didn't blend for long enough - did you blend until the cashews were perfectly smooth? if not, the frosting can end up being quite a runny texture.
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