Vegan Lemon Cookies with Almond Flour (Paleo)

These vegan lemon cookies are the perfect spring and summer dessert! They are made with almond flour, bursting with lemon flavor and topped with a sweet glaze. Furthermore, these soft lemon cookies are vegan friendly, paleo and gluten free.

I don't know how or why I didn't like lemon flavored desserts as a kid!

Now, every time I create a lemon recipe I'm blown away by the flavor.

These vegan lemon cookies are another addition to my list of favorite recipes - they're one of the BEST soft cookie recipes I've ever had.

Lemon Cookies

There are so many reasons I love this eggless lemon cookie recipe. Here are a few highlights:

• vegan and paleo friendly
• gluten and grain free - these vegan lemon shortbread cookies are made with almond flour
• dairy free - no butter (made with a coconut and palm shortening)
• soft and tender
• easy to make - a one bowl batter and no chilling the dough necessary
• topped with a low sugar glaze

And yes, my children fully approved of this paleo lemon cookie recipe. They won't end up like me as a child, thinking all lemon desserts were repulsive! 😉

Ingredients

Here's what you need to make this recipe for vegan lemon cookies:

• almond flour
• coconut flour
• ground flax
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• non-hydrogenated shortening (or vegan butter)
• maple syrup
• water
• lemon juice
• lemon zest
• vanilla extract
• icing (powdered monk fruit, tapioca flour, almond milk)

These vegan lemon cookies are made with almond flour. In addition, this recipe calls for a little coconut flour and ground flax which are important for texture purposes.

Instead of butter, this recipe calls for non-hydrogenated shortening. I like Nutiva shortening, which is made from organic coconut oil and palm fruit oil (sustainably sourced). You may swap this ingredient with butter or a vegan butter.

Lastly, these easy lemon cookies are sweetened with maple syrup. If you need a maple syrup substitute, your best options would be honey, brown rice syrup or agave.

How to Make Vegan Lemon Cookies

These vegan lemon sugar cookies are easy to make, the dough doesn't require any chilling and they bake in just 10 minutes. Here's what you need to do:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. This includes the almond flour, coconut flour, ground flax, baking powder, baking soda and salt. For the ground flax, grind whole flax seeds in a coffee grinder. This ensures fresh, finely ground flax seeds.

Next, mix in the remaining cookie ingredients. This includes the shortening, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and water. Use a spatula to combine the ingredients.

Next, roll the lemon cookie dough into balls, each about one rounded tablespoon in size. Place the balls on the lined baking sheet and slightly press down.

The cookies spread a little, but you don't have to leave much space in-between each cookie.

Next, place the cookies in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

After baking, the cookies should be slightly browned on the bottom with cracked tops. Remove the vegan lemon cookies from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

Icing for Lemon Cookies

These lemon cookies are great on their own, but even better with a sugar free icing. Simply combine powdered monk fruit (or powdered sugar) with tapioca flour and almond milk (or water). Then, mix in a small bowl until well combined. Add more liquid as needed to get the desired texture.

Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies and top with a little extra lemon zest.

Storage

For best results, keep these healthy vegan lemon cookies at room temperature for a couple days, in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month.

I love them straight from the fridge, as they keep their moist texture without becoming too soft.

More Paleo Vegan Cookie Recipes

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