These lemon poppy seed cookies are a no-chill soft, buttery sugar cookie studded with crunchy poppy seeds, infused with sweet citrus flavor, and topped with tangy lemon glaze.

Soft and chewy lemon poppy seed cookies topped with a lemon glaze and zest, surrounded by bright lemon slices on white parchment.

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Soft and Chewy Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Bright, zesty, and irresistibly soft, these lemon poppy seed cookies are a fresh take on lemon poppy seed bread and lemon poppy seed cupcakes. Bursting with citrus flavor and a fun crunch from the poppy seeds, they’re the perfect balance of sweet and buttery!

These poppy seed cookies are topped with a lemon glaze, making them the perfect sweet treat in the afternoon, or for your dessert table. They are the perfect way to jazz up classic lemon sugar cookies or add something special to your lemon dessert lineup!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • The fresh flavor of lemon in a bakery-style cookie!
  • Soft and chewy texture, with crisp edges and a slight crunch in every bite.

Ingredients Notes

Overhead view of lemon poppy seed cookie ingredients, including fresh lemons, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, poppy seeds, and baking powder.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

  • Lemon zest and lemon juice: Have a couple of fresh lemons on hand for this recipe. You’ll need the zest of one and the freshly squeezed juice of that one plus one more.
  • Unsalted butter and large egg yolks: Bring both of these to room temperature about 30-40 minutes ahead of time. It helps ingredients blend easily and promotes even baking.
  • Poppy seeds: For the fun crunch! These have a nutty, slightly sweet, aromatic flavor, but truthfully, it’s more about the texture and appearance they bring.
  • Baking staples: You’ll need granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • For the glaze: Powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, salt.

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.

In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar and fresh lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it smells fragrant.

Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds added to a mixing bowl, ready to be whisked together.
Granulated sugar and freshly grated lemon zest in a glass bowl, ready to be rubbed together for fragrant lemon sugar.

To the bowl with the lemon-infused sugar, add the softened butter and beat until light and fluffy. Then add the egg yolks and fresh lemon juice.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.

Butter, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice creamed together in a glass bowl with a hand mixer, forming a fluffy lemon base.
Dry ingredients partially mixed into the creamed lemon butter mixture using a hand mixer in a large bowl.

Scoop out the cookie dough with a medium cookie scoop and place the dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Lemon poppy seed cookie dough scooped into round balls and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ready for the oven.
Freshly baked lemon poppy seed cookies cooling on a parchment-lined baking sheet, golden around the edges.

Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth, taste and adjust.

Drizzle cooled cookies with glaze and garnish with extra zest or poppy seeds if desired!

Powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk being whisked into a smooth glaze in a glass bowl.
A plate stacked with soft lemon poppy seed cookies drizzled with glaze and sprinkled with lemon zest, ready to serve.

Recipe Tips

  • For best results, use fresh lemons! I prefer the sweeter Meyer lemons, but use what you can find. Avoid the bottled stuff.
  • If you find your cookie dough is a bit crumbly after mixing, add an extra tablespoon or two of lemon juice.
  • Using a cookie scoop (or measuring 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough) helps to keep the cookies a similar size so they get done baking at the same time.
  • Lemon poppyseed cookies need to cool completely before adding the glaze, otherwise it’ll just melt into the cookies.
  • You can adjust the sweet-to-tart ratio of your glaze. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar; if you prefer more lemon flavor, add extra lemon juice.
Stack of soft lemon poppy seed cookies with glaze and zest, the top cookie showing a moist, fluffy interior with poppy seeds throughout.

More lemon recipes to try include lemon bars, lemon brownies and lemon cheesecake!

More Lemon Cookie Recipes

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Soft and chewy lemon poppy seed cookies topped with a lemon glaze and zest, surrounded by bright lemon slices on white parchment.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by: Jamielyn Nye
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 24
These lemon poppy seed cookies are a no-chill soft, buttery sugar cookie studded with crunchy poppy seeds, infused with sweet citrus flavor, and topped with tangy lemon glaze.
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Ingredients 

  • 1 ⅓ cup (265g) granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter , room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks , room temperature
  • 3-4 Tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice , 1-2 lemons
  • 3 cups (380g) all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon milk
  • Pinch of salt

Optional garnish: Lemon zest or small lemon slices

Instructions

  • Infuse the sugar: In a large bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it smells fragrant.
  • Cream the butter: Add the softened butter to the lemon sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then add in egg yolks and lemon juice.
  • Mix dry ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
  • Combine: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Don’t overmix! Add an extra Tablespoon or two of lemon juice or milk if dough is crumbly.
  • Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Bake: Scoop out dough balls with a medium cookie scoop (or 1 1/2 Tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are barely set. Do not let brown or they'll be dry.
  • Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Make the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
  • Decorate: Use a spoon to drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Garnish with lemon zest or poppy seeds if desired.

Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.

Notes

Lemons: Fresh lemons are a must for this recipe. I prefer Meyer lemons, they are the sweetest.
Storage: Store cookies in a container up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 74mg, Potassium: 60mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 23g, Vitamin A: 23IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.

Substitutions and Variations

  • Add some extracts to your cookie recipe. Try vanilla extract, almond extract, or, for a more pronounced lemon flavor, lemon extract.
  • For extra nuttiness, you can toast your poppy seeds first. Just be sure to completely cool them before using them.
  • Adjust the thickness of the glaze. For a thinner glaze, use more milk and lemon juice. For a thicker glaze, use more powdered sugar and less milk.
  • Swap all the lemons for oranges or lime for a different citrus flavor.

Recipe FAQs

How to store these poppy seed lemon cookies?

Keep them at room temperature for up to 3 days. Be sure to cover them in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out.

Can I freeze them?

Lemon and poppy seed cookies freeze nicely for up to 3 months. If you’re planning ahead, you can freeze them without the glaze and add it just before serving.

Or, if the glaze is already one, once it has set and the cookies have cooled, you can freeze them, layered with parchment paper so they don’t freeze stuck together.