These soft lemon meltaway cookies get their name for good reason. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
A lemon twist on the classic recipe.
If you somehow haven’t tried them yet, definitely be sure to also try the super popular original Snowball Cookies.
The snowball cookies are one of my most-visited recipe posts every December, and it seems everyone knows and loves the popular holiday recipe.
One of the best things about these cookies is their versatility. I’ve added lemon juice and zest for today’s version, but you can just as easily substitute lime juice or even orange juice!
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The cookies are easy to transport, and you can freeze leftovers.
(If you have any leftovers…)
I brought them to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party over the weekend, because bite-sized desserts always seem to be appreciated at events where there’s a lot of food and no one wants to commit to one big slice of cake or a whole cupcake.
These adorable cookies were the perfect size.
Also try the Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lemon Meltaway Flavor Variations
Orange Juice + Zest
Lime Juice + Zest
Grapefruit Juice + Zest
I bet they’d be good with pineapple juice too (although I haven’t tried yet), and I still need to do a chocolate version!
The cookies can be refined-sugar-free if you wish. Just blend your favorite granulated unrefined sugar, such as evaporated cane juice or coconut sugar, until it turns into powder. Multiple readers have written in to say they’ve had success with erythritol as well, but I haven’t personally tried that one.
Here are over 100 Healthy Cookies Recipes
Above – watch the original snowball cookie recipe video
Lemon Meltaway Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (white, spelt, or Bob's gf work)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans (can omit for nut free)
- 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, unrefined if desired
- 2 tsp lemon juice, plus 1 tsp zest (don’t omit)
- if using coconut oil, add 1/8 tsp salt
- optional additional powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- *For a keto version, just add lemon zest to this Keto Cookies recipe and roll into balls. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Beat butter or oil with the powdered sugar in a medium bowl or stand mixer. Stir in all remaining ingredients to form a dough. Roll into balls, place on a cookie sheet, and bake 17 minutes. The cookies will still be underdone, so do not touch them for 10 minutes as they cool and firm up. If desired, roll in additional powdered sugar.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Paige Cassandra Flamm says
These look so good! Totally going to make them with the kids after school today!
Paige
Susan says
Love it!! My husband hates chocolate so it really limits the sweets he eats. I think he’ll love these lemon cookies!
Nina says
I already made these and they were delicious. Simple to make and I love the lemon idea.
S says
Ok, I know I’m being THAT person on a recipe with 5 ingredients… but do you think these could be made oil-free? I’m guessing no, but you have more expertise than I do so I wanted to see if you had any ideas! 🙂
Jason Sanford says
You could always experiment with subbing almond butter for the oil or butter in the recipe. We haven’t tried it, but definitely be sure to report back if you try it first!
Jason (media relations)
Sandi says
Caution: Addictive! As soon as that 10 minute cooling timer buzzed, I grabbed one, then another, then another, then 3 more. Wow, so fantastic! I can’t wait to make these again when my son visits in a couple weeks. I used lime juice b/c I only had limes on hand and they were fantastic. I make them gluten-free using Arrowhead Mills Organic All Purpose GF Flour and the texture is lovely. Thanks for this fantastic recipe!
Nili says
Could you use almond meal or almond flour instead of finely chopped nuts?
Jason Sanford says
Might change the texture, but it sounds like it would *probably* work. If you try it, be sure to report back for the rest of us!
Jason
Moon says
Omg girl you are my hero, those are amazing just took them out of the oven…
I rolled them in lemon zest with powder sugar… Yummms
Love you so much
Jason Sanford says
LOVE your idea to roll in lemon zest!
Kiley says
Help!? I was recently visiting with my family and we made these cookies together. They were fantastic! My sister is a more experienced baker/chef than I, so she put her own little spin on the recipe. I‘m home now and tried to bake these lemon cookies 3 times following the recipe exactly, however, each time they were not even close to ‘melt away’. Every batch was dry and a little crumbly. I have an electric oven so I reduced the baking time on each try thinking I may have overcooked the cookies, but alas even at 14 minutes instead of the prescribed 17 (with more than the allotted cooling time) they were not refreshing. Please advise. Thank you!
Jason Sanford says
Hmm, what specific ingredients did you (and she) use?
Beth says
I had the same issue where they were crumbly. We used coconut oil and walnuts which I chopped in a chopper. All purpose flour and powder sugar and lemon juice.
Avra says
Does the coconut oil need to be solid and properly “creamed” with the sugar?
Jason Sanford says
No need for a stand mixer – just using a fork is fine! Yes it’s best to use it solid (although it does also work in liquid form).
Jason
Eva says
So good!!!! Made them two days in a roll… they didn’t last the first day lol!!!
Scarlet says
I love lemon. So sweet and sour all at once. Delicious. My grandmother always grew lemon trees and I always think of her when I have a lemon dessert. Thanks for this amazing lemon melt away cookies recipe!
Jason Sanford says
Hmmm what other ingredients did you use? Did you use the oil/butter melted? This is a pretty standard traditional recipe so it should definitely work!
Alexis says
Are the nuts necessary, or just a texture/flavor addition? Sorry if I missed this in your post, just trying to figure out if I could make them but allergy friendly. Thank you!
Jason Sanford says
We’ve seen readers report making them without nuts and it being fine, but Katie and I haven’t tried it so can’t say from experience. If you experiment, be sure to report back!
Jason (media relations)
Steph says
Hi! I made these exactly as indicated with Bob’s gluten free flour and they completely lost their form and spread out flat on the baking sheet 🙁 any suggestions?
Jason Sanford says
Oh no! What other ingredients did you use?
Melissa says
Hi Katie! Are these soft or crunchy/crispy?
Thanks for making all your recipes so adaptable ?
Jason Sanford says
Soft!
Anja says
Since it doesn’t specify – should the butter be melted or not? A little bit or just warm?
Jason Sanford says
I always just use it firm!
lauren says
making this batter it was very very dry at first and i was worried it wouldn’t come together (i baked this with firm coconut oil)
i added a few more splashes of lemon juice and kneaded this by hand to try and melt the coconut oil, and it eventually became a workable dough 🙂 they turned out great!
JennyL says
Delicious, easy, and PERFECT cookies! I love that all I needed was a half a lemon and ingredients on hand to make these on a whim. Used pecans in the dough and earth balance for the butter. Will make a double batch next time to share. Thank you!
Robin says
Can vegan butter be used in place of coconut oil?
CCK Media Team says
It can! Something like Earth Balance works perfectly 🙂
Chloe says
𝕎𝕆𝕎
These cookies are amazing…
I added vanilla beans to the dough
Love them 😋
Thanks for the recipe:)
Gary dadis says
Just made the lemon melt away cookies. Very good! I probably used a little extra lemon juice but they were greatly! Baking most cookies for 17 m would be a long time on a regular cookie sheet, cause they will be too brown on the bottom . How you do that, I would like to make them again !
Baker39 says
Made these, little bit less than pleased with the result. The recipe is misleadingly named- the cookies are not moist at all, actually, more of a shortbread texture, and the whole recipe only made 15 cookies. Also, be very careful when coating the baked cookies with powdered sugar: I accidentally broke 3. However, despite the hang-ups, we liked the cookies, and discovered that though they are dry-ish they are really good with cold milk!
Maria says
Hi! I made those cookies yesterday and they were pretty small! Much smaller than they look like in the pictures. I got really disappointed.. They tasted good, though!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making them! Feel free to roll the cookies to any size you want 🙂
Kayla says
Hi! Just a note, the link to the nutrition facts for these links to the nutrition facts for snowball cookies instead 😉
CCK Media Team says
They have the same nutrition facts 🙂
Avid Baker says
I made these for Christmas, but realized working with the recipe it’s incomplete. For example, it doesn’t state what temperature the butter should be at, room soft or cold. Doesn’t explain what you need to make the powdered sugar. Coconut sugar does not give the fluffy white look pictured, cookies are brown. Baking any cookies at 17 minutes made these very dry and hard.
The leftover powdered coconut sugar just melts when you try and roll them, and not much flavor to the actual cookie.
To fix this, I made a glaze with milk, lemon juice, and sugar, and rolled them in shredded coconut flakes. Huge improvement!
Serena says
Hi Katie!
I don’t understand something from this recipe: how am I supposed to roll them in additional sugar as soon as they come out of the oven if I cannot touch them for 10 minutes because they need to firm up?
Can you do it later? I’m thinking that it might not work out if they are not even a bit sticky any more.
Thanks if you can help 🙂
CCK Media Team says
Hi, do wait until they cool and then roll 🙂
Beth Thibeault says
I just made two batches of these! They are so delicious!! This isn’t my first time making them,and it won’t be my last!!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying them 🙂
Lauren says
How many cookies are a serving?
Ellen says
Can u make these without the nuts? Allergic.
Thanks!
Lindsay says
Made with oat flour, coconut oil, lime and pistachios! Seriously addictive.
CCK Media Team says
Your version sounds even better than the original!
Arielle says
If using unsalted butter, do I add the salt you recommend for when using coconut oil?
Caroline says
I just made these and they’re so yummy! I used almond flour for the nuts, and half butter/half coconut oil. I scooped them with my smallest scoop — about 1T — and got 31 bite-size cookies. 17 minutes @ 325 was just about right. I rolled some in powdered sugar but I thought they were fine without. Lovely melt in your mouth feel!
Linda says
Quick and easy and very yummy!
Melanie says
These are amazing! I followed the recipe and used the options for all purpose flour, coconut oil (didn’t melt it first), and ground almonds. I ended up cooking mine for 15 mins on a silpat-lined baking sheet. They did look underdone, and my husband was worried because they weren’t brown on top. However, they were slightly golden on the underside. Luckily, I followed the recipe and took them out anyway. After the cooling time, we rolled them in a mixture of powdered sugar and the rest of the lemon zest. They were soft and incredible! Definitely “meltaway”. I have family staying with us, so 5 people tasted these cookies, and everyone was blown away by how amazing they are. The recipe made 19 for us. That was a few hours ago. There aren’t many left 😀 One thing to note is that the mixture feels very crumbly when you are making it into balls. It still works. I think the coconut oil melts just enough in your hands to form the ball. You don’t have to add water to get them to come together. I also put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes before putting them in the oven to make sure the coconut oil was solid. I’ve seen on baking shows that if a mixture gets too warm, the cookies will flatten and ooze oil/butter in the oven. Ours retained their shape, didn’t ooze at all, and are absolute perfection. I’m so so glad to have found a vegan cookie recipe that isn’t a compromise! Thank you!!!
Dani says
These absolutely melt in your mouth! I whipped these up as a late night treat and my kids were bummed I didn’t make a second batch! I used good vegan baking sticks and a splash of vanilla along with the lemon juice. Perfect. These would be so great with a cup of Earl grey tea. Thank you for sharing.
Jessica says
This is the absolute best food I have ever made! I left the cookies in the oven for 30 minutes instead of letting them cool outside. The cookie had the most wonderful caramelized flavor that just crumbles and melts in your mouth😍😇. A lot of lemon desserts I have made just taste like butter and flour, but this cookies tastes exactly like 🍋 . I will be making more for sure. Definitely try this out!
Jessica says
Delicious! Can I use any kind of nuts? Even hazelnuts?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
It sounds like a fun experiment but we have never tried hazelnuts. Be sure to report back if you try!