Soft and fluffy raspberry cookies are easy to make and bursting with flavors of fresh lemon zest and a sweet lemon glaze. The bright fruity flavors mixed with the buttery cookie base are a match made in heaven!
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Lemon Raspberry Cookie Recipe
I love to make all types of fruit desserts during the spring and summer. The flavors are so bright and refreshing. These raspberry cookies are a favorite, as well as mini fruit tarts, glazed lemon cookies, strawberry crumb bars and lemon bars.
Let’s talk about the lemon and raspberry flavor combination. The sweetness from the raspberries combined with the bright zing from the lemon is irresistible and tastes just like summer. Then combine those flavors with the buttery and creamy cookie base, followed by the lemon powdered sugar glaze. Does it get any better than that?!
These raspberry cookies taste like a mix between a scone and a shortbread cookie. They have a soft and thick texture with a slight crumble. Trust me, they are absolutely delicious. Everyone was begging for more!
Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Soft and chewy: The interior of these raspberry cookies is so fluffy!
- Bright flavors: Sweet raspberries and tangy lemon pair perfectly with a lovely sweetness and mild zing.
- Stunning look: These cookies are truly beauties to look at with their bright pink and red color and then lemon glaze.
- Seasonal favorite: These lemon raspberry cookies are breath of fresh air in the spring, taste like raspberry lemonade in the summer and yet would look beautiful on a holiday cookie platter, too!
Recipe Ingredients
If you love raspberries, you need to give these egg-free cookies a try!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- All-purpose flour: This gives the cookies structure! I have not tried it with any other flour including gluten-free flour or almond flour.
- Granulated sugar: Balances the tart flavors with sweetness and gives the sugar cookies their crisp edges.
- Baking powder: Since these cookies have no egg, this gives the cookies some lift and rise.
- Salted butter: Cubed cold butter is used to keep these cookies fluffy. If you are using unsalted butter, you may need to add a pinch of salt to the dough. I have not tried this with a plant based butter or vegan baking stick, but it may work.
- Heavy whipping cream: This helps keep the raspberry cookies soft by adding a little fat.
- Lemon: You will need fresh lemon that has been zested and juiced. Do not use bottled lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Frozen raspberries: Do not thaw your raspberries.
- Lemon glaze: Fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar.
Fresh or Frozen Raspberries?
I recommend using frozen raspberries when making this raspberry cookies recipe. They are easier to fold into the dough than fresh raspberries (without getting all mushy) and are less watery. Frozen raspberries are still a bit fragile, so make sure to gently fold them into the dough.
Variations
- If you love really lemon, you can add a little more zest into the dough. Check out these tips for how to zest a lemon.
- You could make these without the lemon flavor if preferred. Omit the lemon juice and zest and add in a dash of vanilla extract for more flavor.
- White chocolate chips would taste delicious mixed into the dough. Fold them in when you fold in the frozen raspberries.
- Use a cream cheese glaze for a more rich and tangy flavor.
- Omit the glaze all together or add a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.
How to Make Raspberry Cookies
Before starting to make these raspberry cookies, prep your baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350°F. This is important so your frozen raspberries do not have any chance to thaw and turn the batter blue!
- Cut butter with dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix butter in with a pastry cutter, whisk, or your hands until crumbly and combined.
- Add wet ingredients: Stir in heavy cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice just until combined and a thick dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add 1 more Tablespoon cream.
- Add the berries: Gently fold or press in raspberries. Do not stir vigorously or your berries will become crushed and color the dough.
- Scoop and bake: Using a large cookie scoop, spoon dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
- Cool and glaze: Once cookies have cooled completely, combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle over the cookies.
Expert Baking Tips
- Cold butter. Similar to making homemade biscuits, you want to use cold cubed butter (I like to place mine in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes prior to using). This gives the raspberry cookies a soft and thick texture, with a bit of crumble.
- Cutting the butter. To cut the butter into the flour, you can use a pastry cutter, whisk or even your hands. This shouldn’t be a super smooth dough, so make sure not to over work it. Mix until the ingredients just barely come together.
- Fold raspberries gently. Try not to get heavy handed when folding in the frozen raspberries. Take your time and fold them in gently, so that they stay intact for the most part.
- Drop cookies. Is there anything easier than a drop cookie? No rolling the dough or flattening the cookie dough balls out. Simply use a spoon (or cookie scoop) to drop the cookies onto the baking sheet. That’s it!
- Don’t overbake. These raspberry cookies only need to bake for about 12 to 15 minutes. Every oven is different, so make sure to keep an eye on them. Take them out when the edges are lightly golden, but not fully brown. If you bake them too long, they won’t be as soft and the texture will dry out.
- Let cool. Make sure the cookies have cooled completely before adding the glaze. If they are still warm, the glaze could melt.
FAQs
This happens when the juice from the raspberries reacts with the baking powder. You cookies may also look a little gray or even a greenish color. To avoid this, make sure to add your frozen berries to the cookie batter last, stir gently so as to not disturb them and bake immediately. If you need to bake subsequent pans, keep dough chilled until ready to bake remaining batter.
Yes, if you do not add the raspberries to the batter you could make the dough ahead of time and store in the refrigerator.
If you have over baked your cookies they will start to harden as they cool. Take your cookies out of the oven right as they start to turn golden brown at the edges. Also, be sure to store your cookies in an airtight container as soon as they are cool.
If you find that your raspberry lemon cookies do not have as much chewy texture as you would like, try under baking the cookies next time. You could also add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the dough as that helps prevent gluten development.
How to Store Raspberry Cookies
Once the cookies have cooled completely, store in a zip top bag or airtight container at room temperature for about 4 to 5 days.
You can also freeze lemon raspberry cookies in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. You can either microwave a raspberry cookie directly from the freeze to enjoy it warm or let the cookie thaw on counter for a few hours before enjoying.
If you love desserts with a hint of lemon try this lemon sugar cookie recipe, lemon cake mix cookies, lemon blueberry muffins or lemon poke cake!
More Recipes with Raspberries
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Raspberry Cookies
Video
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup salted butter , cubed
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream , plus more as needed
- ½ lemon , zested and juiced
- 1 cup roughly chopped frozen raspberries
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix butter in with a pastry cutter, whisk, or your hands until crumbly and combined.
- Stir in heavy cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice just until combined and a thick dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add 1 more Tablespoon cream. Gently fold or press in raspberries.
- Using a large cookie scoop, spoon dough 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- In a medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you love really lemon, you can add a little more zest into the dough. Check out these tips for how to zest a lemon.
- You could make these without the lemon flavor if preferred. Omit the lemon juice and zest and add in a dash of vanilla extract for more flavor.
- White chocolate chips would taste delicious mixed into the dough. Fold them in when you fold in the frozen raspberries.
- Use a cream cheese glaze for a more rich and tangy flavor.
- Omit the glaze all together or add a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Cookies, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Frosted Cookies, Fruit Desserts, Kid-Friendly, Nut-Free
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
beyond delish!
It came out really good but the next time I make them I’m gonna add more lemon just because I love lemon
Absolutely loved these cookies! I took these to a cookie exchange and they were the favorite. They also did great freezing for later.
Ah, love to hear they won the favorite! Thanks for sharing :)
These are so pretty. Will be on my cookie trays for sure this holiday season. Was wondering if half and half could be used in place of the heavy cream. Thanks!
Yes you can use half and half as well :)
Oh my, these raspberry cookies were ahhhmaaazing!! YUM!!
I made this recipe today, and my cookies turned out great and they taste amazing!! The flavors of the raspberries and lemon combined was simply decadent. I actually tripled the recipe above, and I got 10.5 dozen. I feel that it is important to cut in the cold butter, using your hands. Yes, it is a lot of work and takes about 10 minutes, but that is the best way. And what was great, is that I did not need to use my electric mixer at all….Yeah!!
I wanted smaller cookies, so that I would get more out of the batter. I rolled the batter into about 1″ ball and placed it on my parchment covered trays. FYI….the batter is going to be a bit sticky, but that is a good thing. I also baked my cookies 14 minutes; at 7 minutes, I switch and turn my pans to ensure even baking (I always do this with my cookies). when you go to make the icing/glaze, do not make it too runny. I line up the cookies on a cookie sheet and drizzle them with the glaze, then put that whole tray into the freezer for about 10 minutes to flash freeze them. (I do this with any cookie that has icing/glaze). This makes it easier to package them into your containers, before freezing. And, always place a piece of wax paper in between each layer . I can’t say enough about this recipe. It is definitely a keeper. BTW…..I made over 100 dozen Christmas cookies in 3 weeks. I am happy to say that I am finished!!
Thanks for sharing so many great tips and feedback! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Happy holidays! :)
Made these raspberry lemon cookies today. Very easy to make and delicious 😋
So glad you enjoyed them, Gail! Thanks for your comment and review :)
My friend tried this recipe and it was too soft and more like a scone than a cookie
These cookies do taste more like a mix between a scone and shortbread cookie. They have a soft and thick texture with a slight crumble :)
Can I do the same recipe with blueberries frozen blueberries
I’ve never tried but I don’t see why not! Let me know how it goes if you give it a shot!
any frozen fruit works best. if the pieces of fruit are large, chop them up a bit before adding them to the batter. and fold them in gently, with a wooden spoon.
Just made these .They are so delicious. I followed the recipe exactly how it was written.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Tammy!
Hi Ms. Nye! As part of a separate order of freeze-dried fruit, I also got a package of freeze-dried raspberries and was wondering if they would be a fair substitute for the frozen ones in this recipe (which looks really good and I’m definitely going to try it). Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but I imagine that should work. Let us know if you try it!
I am totally raspberry crazy! I loved these cookies, the raspberry flavor really shines!
I Made for a gathering and it was a hit, everyone loved it! Will definitely make it again!
These lemon cookies were delicious. Can’t wait to make them again!
Can I make the dough ahead of time and freeze it till I’m ready to bake?
I haven’t tried, but I think it should be fine. Let me know how it goes if you do!
Delicious
In the recipe you say 1/2 zest and lemon juice….1/2 what amount?
The zest and juice of half a lemon :)
How much lemon juice in the dough? 1/2 lemon?
Correct! The juice and zest of half of a lemon :)