1-First Step: Preparation and Mise en Place Before you start mixing, prepare your workspace. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. This prevents the buttery cookies from sticking and makes cleanup effortless. Ensure your butter is truly softened to room temperature. If it is too cold, it will not cream properly with the sugar, leading to dense cookies rather than light ones. Zest and juice your lemons so you have everything ready to add.

2-Second Step: Creaming the Butter and Sugar In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt. Beat these ingredients on medium speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy. This process usually takes about 2 to 3 minutes. Incorporating air into the butter is crucial for the texture, making the cookies lighter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Once fluffy, add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, and fresh lemon juice. Mix again until combined, scraping the bowl as needed. The dough should look smooth and creamy.

3-Third Step: Incorporating the Flour Turn the mixer speed down to low. Gradually add the all-purpose flour to the wet mixture. Mix just until the flour disappears into the dough. Be careful not to overmix at this stage. Overworking the flour develops gluten, which can make the cookies tough instead of tender. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky, but it should hold its shape when pressed together. If you are making this for a party, you can chill the dough for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle, but it is not strictly required.

4-Fourth Step: Shaping the Cookies Scoop tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll them into balls. A small cookie scoop works perfectly for creating uniform sizes. Place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1.5 inches of space between them. These cookies do not spread much, so you can fit quite a few on one sheet. Use the bottom of a glass dipped in a little sugar to gently flatten each ball slightly. This helps them bake evenly and gives them a nice flat surface for the icing later.

5-Fifth Step: Baking to Perfection Place the baking sheets in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You want to remove them when the bottoms are just barely golden brown. The tops should remain pale. Overbaking will dry them out and ruin the meltaway quality. Keep a close eye on them during the last couple of minutes.

6-Final Step: Cooling and Icing Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. They are fragile when hot, so moving them immediately might cause them to break. After 5 minutes, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they are cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest for the icing. The glaze should be thick but pourable. Drizzle it over the cooled cookies or dip the tops into the glaze. Allow the icing to set before serving. For more nutritional details on the ingredients used, check out this lemon ingredients breakdown.