Lemon Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies
These easy Lemon Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies are crisp and buttery. These slice and bake cookies are gluten-free and perfect for spring!
Spring always gets me excited to bake with fresh citrus, especially lemon. My favorite baking recipes include these lemon scones, lemon cheesecake bars, and this lemon ricotta cake.
This spring I can’t get enough of these lemon almond flour shortbread cookies. These cookies have an irresistible combination of lemon and almond flavors. They’re buttery, with crispy edges and slightly chewy centers. If you love traditional shortbread cookies, you are going to love these almond flour cookies with lemon!
You can see pretty flecks of lemon zest in these almond meal cookies. I used Meyer lemons, which I highly recommend if you can get your hands on some. These almond meal cookies are slice and bake cookies, and the dough is really easy to mix up. Below I give you my best tips to make sure your cookies turn out perfect.
These lemon almond flour shortbread cookies would be a wonderful addition to an Easter brunch buffet or Easter dessert table. If you have extras, these cookies freeze well.
I made these almond flour cookies with Bob’s Red Mill finely ground almond meal/flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill products because their quality has proven itself time and time again. Bob’s Red Mill almond meal is ground from whole, blanched sweet almonds. Not only do almonds have a healthy boost of protein, they are also very low in carbohydrates and inherently gluten free.
When you make these shortbread cookies with almond meal, your almond meal cookies will be gluten free and have only 4 grams of carbohydrates per cookie. The hint of almond flavor and slight crunch from the almond meal is irresistible!
How to Make Almond Flour Cookies
The process of making these Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies is simple. These are slice and bake cookies, so there’s no rolling out of dough for this recipe. You’ll want to plan ahead, as you need to chill the dough for at least 2 hours before slicing and baking.
To start, you’ll cream together butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Next you’ll add lemon zest. The lemon zest will infuse the butter and sugar with lemon flavor, so the cookies have lemon flavor throughout.
Next, add a little salt and almond extract. Finally you’ll mix in the almond flour in three additions until the dough comes together. The finished dough should look like the photo below.
Shape the dough into two 1 ½-inch logs and chill in your refrigerator. Once the dough is chilled you’re ready to slice and bake!
Baking Tips for Gluten Free Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Use finely ground almond meal/almond flour for best results. I have only tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill almond meal/flour.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh your almond flour for the most accurate measurement.
- Chill the dough logs for at least 2 hours before slicing the cookies. You want the dough to be very cold and firm. This will allow you to slice the cookies easily, and will prevent your cookies from spreading.
- Bake the cookies right away after you slice the dough logs. If the dough warms up before you put it in the oven, you can place the baking sheets with the unbaked sliced cookies in your refrigerator for about 15 minutes to re-chill the dough. You want the dough to be very cold to prevent the cookies from spreading in the oven.
More Almond Flour Recipes
Thank you to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Kristine’s Kitchen possible.
Recipe retested, improved and updated 2/7/19.
Lemon Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter softened slightly but still cool
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from 2 medium lemons
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ½ cups (280 grams) Bob's Red Mill Finely Ground Almond Meal/Flour
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the lemon zest and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add the salt and almond extract and mix on low speed to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the almond flour in 3 separate additions, mixing on low after each addition until combined. The dough will be crumbly at first, but continue to mix on low speed and it will come together. Once the dough begins to stick together (see photo in the post above), stop mixing.
- Divide the dough in half. Shape each half first into a ball and then into a log that is 1 ½ inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. You can roll the dough log a bit more after wrapping it in the plastic wrap to smooth it out. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into ¼-inch thick slices. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until the cookies are barely golden on the edges and bottoms. Be very careful not to over-bake the cookies. If you are baking two pans of cookies at once, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store cooled cookies wrapped airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- I recommend that you weigh the flour for an accurate measurement.
- Not all almond flours are ground the same or have the same moisture content. This recipe has only been tested with Bob's Red Mill almond flour/almond meal.
Nutrition
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I am definitely ready for spring and warmer weather! These cookies sound like the perfect treat to get me in that mindset! I’ve never had a lemon shortbread cookie before. These sound delicious, Kristine!
Thank you, Gayle! We loved the lemon flavor in these buttery shortbread cookies!
These cookies are absolutely GORGEOUS, Kristine! And gosh, you are getting me SO excited for spring! Sooo yeah, I’m gonna need like 10 of these cookies for breakfast right about now. 😉
Thanks, Sarah! I’ll admit I’ve snacked on these cookies in the morning myself. 😉
So simple, and so perfect for spring! What a delicious cookie, Kristine!
Thanks, Blair! Lemon and spring just go together!
I love lemon cookies! Such a bright and springy flavor!
Me too, Kelly!
I adore these cookies, Kristine! The lemon zest makes these look so pretty, and I love that you used meyer lemons. I’ve got to try these!
Thank you, Rachel! My grandma has a meyer lemon tree, so I’m hoping for more lemons soon!
I love this gluten-free cookie option, Kristine! I love Bob’s almond meal and use it all the time, so I’m definitely trying these. And of course, I love that you flavored these up with plenty of lemon!
LOVE shortbread.. the buttery, crumbliness gets me every time. These look perfect.
Shortbread is just the best- so buttery and full of flavor. Yours looks fabulous! Pinning 🙂
It’s hard to believe spring is almost here, but I’m loving all of the springy recipes! These cookies look absolutely delicious, love that you used the almond flour for these too!
So I never actually look forward to the first day of Spring. In Manitoba, we have the “first day of spring” and then the day Spring actually comes, like 2 months later. This year though I am actually starting to get excited! I think it might actually come. Lol. Lemon totally makes me thing of Spring and these cookies are gorgeous!
Dear Kristine, these cookies look delightful! What a wonderful spring treat…I love that fresh burst of lemon. xo, Catherine
Hi Kristine – have the dough for these lovely cookies chilling in the fridge and am looking forward to baking them off later this afternoon with my granddaughter. Am wondering the best way to store these and how long will they keep in storage?
Cheers!
Katherine
Hi Katherine, I store these in a ziplock bag, for a few days at room temperature or in the freezer for up to 3 months. I hope you enjoy them!
Hi Kristine,
Do you think I could roll this dough out and use a cookie cutter with it? Or would the consistency not be right?
Thanks
Hi Gina, it’s best to make these as slice and bake cookies, as directed in the recipe. Thanks for reading!
I was wondering….can I use stevia instead of sugar and get the same results?
Hi Stacy, I don’t bake with stevia so I’m not sure.
These are delicious and easy to make. I didn’t have Bob’s flour on hand. so I used 2 C of Kirkland (Costco) superfine almond flour and 1/2 C of Trader Joe’s Just Almond Meal and they turned out perfectly! This will be my go-to lemon cookie recipe from now on. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Thanks for sharing which almond flour worked for you.
These are perfect in every way. I used Costco superfine almond flour. Can I freeze the uncooked dough? Or is it best to cook them and then freeze.
Thanks for this recipe.
I haven’t tried freezing the uncooked dough, but I think that would work well. I have frozen the baked cookies and they freeze well. I’m so glad you enjoyed these!
Hi, i would like to try this recipe but only think what bothers me is that when I change the amount of cookies I want to make, the grams don’t change.
Can you improve that, correct it ?
Thank you
I can’t change that, it will only change the first measurement amount when you change the number of cookies. I would recommend halving or doubling the recipe to make the math easy to calculate.
Can’t wait to make these lemon cookies. Just wondering why you don’t use any lemon juice. Looking forward to your answer. Thank you
Lemon zest gives more concentrated lemon flavor than lemon juice, plus it’s best not to add liquid lemon juice to the cookie dough. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Delicious! I did add about 1 Tbs of Lemon juice for the extra tartness.
Highly recommended.
I’m glad you enjoyed these!
I made a batch of these for my gluten/dairy free kiddos today, using a vegan butter substitute. They turned out great. We loved them!
I’m glad you enjoyed them!