Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies
These cookies are lemony, sweet, soft, chewy, and super easy to make! The brown sugar in them takes the texture of these cookies to another level. A perfect little treat for any cookie lover!
Summer is sadly coming to an end! What a better way to say goodbye than with these amazing lemon cookies! You will be in love with how easy these are to make and how delicious they turn out.
Back when I was a teenager (not too long ago 😆) I used to bake a very similar recipe to this but with lime. I sadly lost that recipe but these are just as good or maybe even better since they have no eggs.
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that it uses oil instead of butter for the dough. You don’t have to worry about creaming the butter or how soft it is, making it perfect for beginners. Also, you don’t have to chill the dough – a win if you ask me!
As always, I included easy step-by-step instructions with pictures, I hope you’re a visual learner like me!
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Easy step-by-step instructions
1. In a medium bowl whisk the oil, brown sugar, applesauce, lemon zest, and vanilla.
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula just until the dough forms (don’t over-mix!).
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 14 balls (I used a tablespoon to portion them out), and place them at least 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Flatten each ball with a fork dipped in flour.
5. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar on each (I use Zulka Morena), and bake on the top rack for 12 – 14 minutes until slightly golden on the bottom but barely any color on top.
6. Leave the cookies on the tray for 1 minute and transfer them to a cooling rack.
A few tips
When zesting your lemon make sure to ONLY use the yellow part. The white part is very bitter!
Keep an eye on these cookies when they're baking! My cookies were done at exactly 14 minutes but all ovens vary. I always check the bottom of the cookies to see if they’re slightly golden. I don’t let the tops of the cookies get golden since this just means they’ll lose that soft texture I love.
Like any baked good, these cookies are best fresh out of the oven. They’ll be nice and soft and slightly crispy on the outside. Any leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Try this recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought.
Relax, bake, enjoy!
This recipe is also available in Spanish: Galletas Fáciles De Limón Veganas
Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup neutral oil (I used canola)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 TBSP applesauce
- The zest of 1 lemon (about ½ tsp)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- Granulated sugar for topping (I used Zulka Morena)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk the oil, brown sugar, applesauce, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula just until the dough forms (don’t over-mix!).
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 14 balls (I used a tablespoon to portion them out), and place them at least 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Flatten each ball with a fork dipped in flour and sprinkle a little granulated sugar on each. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes on the top rack until slightly golden on the bottom but barely any color on top. Do not over-bake these or they’ll get too hard!
- Leave the cookies on the tray for 1 minute and transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
