These soft and chewy citrus cookies are perfect for anytime of year, but are my favorite to make in summertime. What is great about these cookies is that they are easy to make with everyday ingredients, and freeze nicely. They are hands down my favorite cookies. If you like lemon & orange flavors, these are to die for. They have the perfect amount of citrus in them while still keeping the classic sugar cookie taste and consistency.

I made these for my husband to take to his coworkers. They always make him food, and he felt that we should return the favor. Since it is summer, I wanted to make them a summer inspired cookie. Good thing this recipe makes a lot of cookies, because once I tasted one, I could not stop eating them. I think I ate 8 in one day, and probably could have eaten more if I wasn’t giving them away.

Ingredients for the Perfect Citrus Sugar Cookies

Salted Softened Butter ( If you have unsalted butter, just add a 1/4 tsp of salt to the cookies)
Granulated Sugar
Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice
Orange Zest and Orange Juice
Egg
Flour
Baking Soda

Recipe Tips and Tricks

You must refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before baking the cookies. According to Martha Stewart, Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate, which (in addition to chilling the butter) helps to make the cookie dough firmer.
Aerate the flour while you are measuring. Use a spoon to dump the flour into your measuring cup instead of scooping. Use a level edge to scrap off excess flour on the top of the measuring cup.
Use room temperature softened butter. Leave the butter out on the counter for a few hours to ensure it is completely softened. This will help the butter and sugar cream better.
Use a cookie scoop to ensure all of the cookies are the same size. This will help the cookies all bake evenly.

The Perfect Citrus Sugar Cookies

Soft and chewy sugar cookies with a hint of lemon and orange. These cookies are crowd favorite. They are easy to make and easy to freeze.

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Course Dessert

Servings 36 cookies

Ingredients

2 Sticks Salted Butter If you use unsalted, just add 1/4 tsp of salt to the cookie dough.
1 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp Lemon Zest
1 tbsp Orange Zest
2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Fresh Orange Juice
1 Egg
3 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
3 tbsp Granulated Sugar for Rolling the Cookies in.

Instructions

In a Mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter for 5 minutes.
Add lemon zest, orange zest, and the juice from both fruits to the mixture.
Combine the flour and the baking soda together in 1 small bowl. Gradually add the flour and baking soda mixture to the butter mixture slowly. Mix until completely combine.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degree.
Use a cookie scoop to form balls of dough. Roll each ball in sugar until it is evenly covered.
Place each dough ball onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at least 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until edges start to barley turn gold. I leave mine in for 10 because I like mine more chewy.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to finish cooling.