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!
Trending now: Keto Cheesecake
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?
Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram
THIS WEEK’S TRENDING RECIPES
Oat Milk – Everything You Need To Know
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!
Faith-Aloha says
Excellent lemon melting cookie!!! I usually reduce sugar half of the recipes, but yours are one of rare recipes don’t have to!!! Used extra virgin coconut oil instead of butter. It took a while oil get to fluffy, like making vignette sauce. But such efforts are worthwhile as your sweets are always yummy:) Thanks for healthy yet delicious sweets recipes:)