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Amazingly soft and perfect lemon sugar cookies with the best lemon cream cheese frosting on top!
I am not even going to admit how many of these I ate. But I couldn’t stop eating them! I loved everything about these cookies. And the added lemon flavor and lemon cream cheese frosting made these cookies out of this world.
Rewind to the first time that I had my first Swig Sugar Cookie. I went on a road trip with my friend and these swig cookies were the talk of the town. We were so excited to try our first swig cookie. Was it worth the five hour drive? Yes! Swig cookies are AMAZING! They are so soft and the frosting on top is creamy and delicious.
So naturally I had to put a recipe for them on the blog. They tasted just like the real thing and even had their signature rough edge. I was in heaven.
So last week my family was craving a batch of Swig Sugar Cookies. But I decided to add lemon to them. HOLY YUM! These are incredible with the lemon flavoring added to them. And since I am a huge lemon lover, I loved these even more!
I declare these the best lemon sugar cookies out there. They have a slightly crisp outside and a soft inside. The lemon cream cheese glaze was the perfect finishing touch! Try them out for yourself. You will quickly find why I couldn’t stop at just one! 🙂
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Lemon 'Swig' Sugar Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Lemon Sugar Cookies
- 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for pressing cookies
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces softened cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat 1 cup softened unsalted butter, ¾ cup vegetable oil, 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, ¾ cup powdered sugar, and 2 tablespoons water togther on medium-high speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and 2 large eggs,.
- Slowly mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture just until combined. Scoop the dough into ¼ cup portions and roll them into uniform balls. Place the cookie dough balls on the parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 2-inches between the cookies.
- To give the cookies their signature rough edge, dip the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass into ¼ cup granulated sugar, and press the glass onto the cookie dough ball to flatten the cookie to about ½-inch thickness.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are set and the bottom is very lightly browned. These cookies should be quite soft, so please be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bow, beat 4 ounces softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons salted butter, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy. Add 2 ½ cups powdered sugar and beat until combined and creamy.
- Frost the cooled cookies generously before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I followed the cookie recipe exactly.I felt like it needed more lemon.You could barely taste the lemon. It also was very dry. I think without the frosting on top, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. The flavor overall, the cookie and the frosting, was good.It was just too dry. Maybe they would be more moist of baked in a steam oven. Unfortunately I will not be making these again and the hunt for a dense moist cookie continues.
I’m sorry these didn’t turn out for you. They may have been overcooked, and that is why they were dry. I felt they had plenty of lemon flavor with the whole tablespoon of lemon zest, but some lemon skin doesn’t have as much flavor as others, based on freshness, ripeness, amount of oils and type of lemon. To test, you can rub the lemon’s skin, if it gives off a strong lemony scent just by rubbing, it’ll likely be flavorful when zested. I hope this helps.
If you are looking for a dense, moist lemon cookie, you should try my lemon ricotta cookies!
The recipe for the swig cookies must have a mistake in the amount of salt. I used the teaspoon it called for and had to throw it out. I don’t think it needs any salt.
The cookies are delicious with no salt in the frosting.
Hi Lisha thank you for your comment. These cookies don’t have any salt in the frosting. Did you see it somewhere? Let me know!
Would this dough hold up well with cookie cutters? I’d like to give these a shape, if possible. Thanks!
I think it would! You’ll have to tell me how it turns out. ?
Hi there! I am wondering if I use salted or unsalted butter for these? What do you recommend? Thank you!!
I like to use unsalted butter.
OMG! After eating a “lemon” cookie at a national sandwich and bagel place that starts with P, I was determined to find a recipe that was like theirs but also actually tasted like lemon as theirs was super disappointing. Your recipe is amazing just as it is! The frosting is off the charts yummy! Next time I’ll make 36 cookies rather than 24 because these were huge cookies! Anyone on the fence about this recipe should jump right in and try them!
These are delicious cookies! A friend made them and I made some and both turned out just like the picture and tasted so great with a light lemony flavor.
These are so good! The lemon is perfect and they might just be a new tradition! Thank you so much!
YAY! That is awesome to hear! Traditions are my favorite! Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO
Must I refrigerate these cookies?
Can you substitute olive oil for vegetable oil?
I would use avocado oil instead of olive oil. Olive oil does have a taste to it where as avocado oil has a neutral flavor like vegetable oil.
Made these cookies and they are SO GOOD!! They turned out perfect! Thanks for a great recipe!
These were delicious! My whole family loved them. Storage is a bit tricky, but well worth the effort.
Would love to know if these are stackable? Does the frosting harden??
The frosting stays pretty soft..
These look SO GOOD…HAVE TO MAKE THEM! Two questions though: Do they have to be refrigerated as would think so due to the cream cheese frosting. Also, does the frosting harden as they are shown stacked up on themselves? If they don’t harden, all the stacked cookie bottoms would have the frosting on them, right? Thanks
Awesome questions I would like to know as well. A benefit I’m helping hoast is having a bake sale to raise money and if they are stackable I would love to use these!!
These look like the most amazing cookies ever!!! Can’t wait to make them. MMMmmm…
Hi, Im in Australia and presuming the cup measurements are US cups, which I can convert to grams, but I notice the recipe says 5 1/2 C flour…. is that correct… it just seems like an awful lot of flour compared to the amount of butter/oil.. also could i use all butter.. not keen on veg oil!
Thanks, they do look yummy
Fiona, Sydney Australia
These look delicious.