Vegan Lemon Shortbread Cookies (Jam-Filled)

These vegan lemon cookies are buttery shortbread ones with a deliciously tangy flavor in every bite from freshly squeezed lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest. They are delicious on their own, but turning them into blueberry jam-filled linzer cookies is like a match made in heaven. 

If you want more vegan cookie recipes, try our snowball cookies, crescent cookies, coconut cookies, thumbprint cookies, or the best shortbread cookies.

What to expect

If you see a cookie recipe, usually the first thing you want to know is how they taste. Are they crispy or chewy? Will they melt in your mouth or crunch under your teeth? Can anyone tell if it is a vegan cookie recipe?

These super easy vegan lemon cookies are buttery shortbread cookies. They are soft and crunchy rather than chewy. You can taste the lemon, but the flavor is not too strong. We added just enough sweetener to make these cookies tangy and luscious simultaneously.

They become even more incredible if you fill them with blueberry jam and turn them into vegan linzer cookies. They are the perfect match, just like our vegan blueberry pie with lemon crumble recipe.

Ingredients

You need simple pantry ingredients and a quick mix, and you can bake and enjoy the first batch of these vegan lemon shortbread cookies in 20 minutes! So what do you need?

• White rice flour
• Buckwheat flour → I haven’t tested this recipe with all-purpose flour.
• Cornstarch → You can substitute it with tapioca or other starches.
• Cane sugar → You can use other dry sugars like coconut sugar, brown sugar, or white sugar. We haven’t tested this recipe with a liquid sweetener like maple syrup.
• Vegan butter → Like Earth Balance butter sticks
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly squeezed lemon zest
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: vanilla extract

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

If you have seen our other cookie recipes, you can tell that I love using a food processor to mix the ingredients. The main reason is that it is mess-free, and you can do it within one minute. So, how to make vegan lemon shortbread cookies?

1. Add all dry and wet ingredients (white rice flour, buckwheat flour, starch, sugar, fresh lemon juice and zest, salt, and dairy-free butter) to a food processor and mix until it reaches a crumb-like texture. 

2. Take a large bowl and add the dough from the food processor. Knead it with your hands for 2 minutes to form a cookie dough ball. If the ball is dry and crumbles still after 2-3 minutes, add 1-3 teaspoons of water, one teaspoon at a time. The dough should not stick to your fingers. 
3. Take your rolling mat and lightly flour it. Roll the cookie dough thin, about ¼- ½ inches. Choose your favorite cookie cutter and cut out the shapes you want.
4. Bake the plain lemon cookies on parchment paper for 10-12 minutes. Baking time may depend on your oven, so check them at 8 minutes.

Top tips

• Measure it with a scale – Baking is about precision. I always measure the ingredients on a scale and convert the recipe back to cups. I use King Arthur’s Weight Chart to ensure that the cup measurements align with the grams. If you want to make perfect cookies every time, use a scale.
• Flour your surface – I recommend using rice flour as it has a grainy consistency. The dough rolls all over it effortlessly.
• Use saran wrap or cling foil – It doesn’t matter which recipe it is, whether a pie crust, a pizza crust, or a cookie; I ALWAYS use saran wrap on the top, so the dough will not stick to the rolling pin. If you do that, you can save so much time and hassle.
• Parchment paper instead of a baking sheet – I recommend using parchment paper instead of a silicone baking sheet, especially if you want to bake multiple batches. The main reason is that cookies can be very soft while hot. If you try to transfer them, they may break or crumble. Using parchment paper, you can move the cookies to a wire rack without touching them and bake the next batch on your baking tray without downtime. 
• Place them close – You can place them relatively close to each other as there is no baking powder, baking soda, or any other type of leavening. Which means they will not rise significantly.
• When are they ready? – If they start to brown on the edges, you are too late.

Making vegan linzer cookies

We have made these cookies several times just like that, plain and simple. However, after having the most amazing vegan blueberry pie with lemon crumble I have ever eaten, there was no question. I had to add blueberry to these vegan lemon cookies as well. So how to do that?

1. Choose your cookie cutter. You can cut out one type of cookie and make cookie sandwiches. Or you can use linzer cookie cutters*, where you have a whole cookie and a “window” cookie to stick together with the jam. 
2. Chill lemon cookies at room temperature on a cooling rack.
3. Spread a bit of blueberry jam on top of the bottom cookie.
4. Place the top cookie or the “window” cookie on it and gently press it together. And voilà, vegan linzer cookies.

Other variations

What if you don’t like lemon and blueberry together? No way, they are irresistibly delicious. But still, here are some other ideas on how to fill or top your cookies:

• For lemon lovers, drizzle them with lemon glaze and drop some slivered or sliced almonds on top.
• Simply dust it with powdered sugar.
• Change the jam to cranberry, strawberry, raspberry, or apricot.
• Add a chocolate fudge or a caramel filling.

FAQs and substitutions

Can you use lemon extract instead?

You can also use a lemon extract if you don’t have fresh lemons. McCormick has an unsweetened gluten-free lemon extract*, which states that one teaspoon of extract equals one teaspoon of grated lemon zest. I added two tablespoons of lemon juice and one tablespoon of zest to this vegan lemon cookie recipe. However, I don’t recommend adding three tablespoons of lemon extract. I would try it with one or two only, not to have an overpowering aroma. 

Can you make it ahead of time?

Even if you add jam, you can leave these lemon linzer cookies out for 1-2 days without covering them. They will be as good as new. If you use an airtight container, you can store them longer for up to two weeks. I never kept them longer, so let me know if you do.

Can the cookie dough be frozen?

You can store the lemon cookie dough and the baked cookies in the freezer. Thaw the dough in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for at least 1 hour before attempting to roll it out.

Can you substitute any flour or starch?

I have only tested this vegan lemon cookie recipe with tapioca and cornstarch and saw no difference. Read our tapioca flour substitutes article for more starch options. As for the flour, you can use oat flour or millet flour instead of buckwheat, although the flour combination in the recipe card is the one I recommend the most.

Allergen info

This Vegan Lemon Cookies recipe is dairy-free and egg-free.

• Vegan – All suggested ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – All ingredients are supposed to be nut-free, but always check the packaging before using any ingredient.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – Vegan butter is not compliant since it has processed oil. We haven’t tested this recipe with nut butter.
• Gluten-free – All proposed ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free, but always check the packaging for cross-contamination info, especially for cornstarch and flour.
• Soy-free – Companies frequently use soy to make vegan butter. So select soy-free products. All other ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More vegan cookie recipes

For more vegan dessert recipes, browse through our recipe collection or check out these delicious cookies:

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in October 2021. More info, tips, and details were added, and it was republished in October 2022.