You don’t have to be vegan, nor have a gluten intolerance to fall absolutely head over heels for these healthy heaps of lemony goodness. In fact, after looking at all of the research-backed health benefits of lemons, I think I need to find a way to incorporate them more often. They help our weight loss efforts, reduce our risk of heart disease, anemia, kidney stones, digestive issues, and cancer. Yes, please! And in cookie form?! Even better:

Maybe I should have led with this part – they are super easy to make, and pretty fool-proof. Here’s what you need:

• Lemons 😆, depending on the size, 2-3 total
  • For the cookies, you’ll need the juice of 1 large lemon
  • zest of 2 lemons in the cookie base (or more or less depending on how lemony you like it. I say the more the better).
  • For the frosting you’ll need the juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon depending on the size/ taste/ consistency you’re going for, the zest of that lemon, plus 1 cup confectioners sugar (we use this one).

• 1/2 cup olive oil – we happened to have lemon olive oil in the pantry, but any oil will work (including coconut oil).
• 2 T. maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or your sugar of choice (maple sugar works great, too!)
• Just shy of 2 cups gluten-free flour – we used this one.
• 1 t. baking soda
• generous sprinkle of salt (I love love love this one for everything)
• 3 T. vegan milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and start on your one-bowl wonder. Have you noticed a lot of our recipes are that way? 😅 Dishes are not my favorite.

1. Grab a large mixing bowl and layer your dry ingredients first, whisking to get rid of any chunks, and incorporate well.
2. At this point Grey makes a “volcano” with the dry and we slowly add in the wet ingredients. Here’s where it gets a little dicey. It’s a shortbread vibe of a cookie, so you’re going to notice it’s a little dry. We have tried it where I was worried it was too dry to bake well, and we’ve tried it where I’ve added in a little more coconut milk a teaspoon at a time. I prefer them a little more moist than too crumbly. As long as you can form it into a ball and it doesn’t crumble apart when you place it on the baking sheet – they’ll be good!
3. Form into balls and tamp them down a little to test that theory above, then bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
4. While they’re baking, whisk up your glaze and have fun with the lemon. I kept adding in extra zest because I went all in on the lemon flavor. Fun tidbit of the day, Grey calls powdered sugar “perfectionary sugar” and I don’t have the heart to correct him because it sparks joy 😆. Here’s the hard part – wait until the cookies are completely cool before icing them. Otherwise it’s quite literally a hot mess with it sliding right off the top.

An absolute mouthful of sunshine! Please tag us if you decide to give them a go. We can’t wait to hear what you think! XO, Kaylea