This is the most faithful copycat I could come up with for my favorite crunchy lemon cookies, Lemon Coolers. If you were a fan and used to eat these straight out of the box, be prepared to be taken straight back to childhood. Crunchy and sweet-tart with a ton of lemon flavor in both the cookie and the powdered sugar coating, it doesn't get much more lemony than this!
170gramssugar snow or powdered sugar6 oz or about 1 1/2 cups
1-1 ½teaspoonspowdered lemonor to taste
For the Dough
87gramsvegetable shortening3 oz or a scant 1/2 cup
74gramsgranulated sugar2.6 oz or about 1/3 cup
74gramspowdered sugar2.6 oz or a generous 1/2 cup
¾teaspoonkosher saltlightly crushed so it blends in better
zest of 2 lemons5-6 grams
½teaspoonlemon extract
18gramsfresh lemon juice0.6 oz or 4 teaspoons
⅜teaspoonpowdered lemon
a very tiny pinch of turmericoptional, for color
1large egg
172gramsall-purpose flour6 oz or about 1 1/2 cups
10gramsinstant clear jel or cornstarch0.4 oz or about 1 Tablespoon
½teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
57gramsmini lemon baking chips or white baking chips2 oz or 1/4 cup
Instructions
Heat oven to 325F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment.
Mix sugar snow or powdered sugar and lemon powder together in a large zip-top bag. Set aside for later.
In a large bowl, use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to thoroughly combine the shortening, sugar, powdered sugar, salt, lemon extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered lemon, and turmeric.
Mix in the egg very well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, instant clear jel, baking powder, and baking soda.
Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl and blend until everything is evenly mixed and no loose flour remains.
Add the lemon chips and mix in evenly.
Scale the dough at 5 grams per cookie, and then roll between your palms gently to make little balls.
Place them on one parchment-lined pan in 6 rows of 8 for 48 cookies per pan.
Bake the first pan while you portion the dough for the second.
Bake for 8 minutes, and then rotate the pan 180 degrees, and bake for another 8-9 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and on the bottoms. This took 17 minutes in my oven. Start checking at around 12-13 minutes.
Allow cookies to sit on the pan for about 1 minute, and then use a spatula to transfer them to the bag of tart sugar. Shake gently to coat each cookie completely. The cookies should still be hot-but-not-fragile when you add them to the bag. This ensures the sugar will stick to the cookies as well as possible.
Remove from the sugar and shake off the excess. Allow the cookies to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.
Repeat with the remainder of the dough. Note you will need to reuse the first baking sheet to bake the last bit of dough. You can reuse the parchment, also.
Notes
Half-Batch Amounts
makes about 53 5-gram cookies
43 grams (1.5 oz) vegetable shortening
37 grams (1.3 oz) granulated sugar
37 grams 1.3 oz or) powdered sugar
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt (lightly crushed so it blends in better)
zest of 1 lemons (2-3 grams)
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
9 grams (0.3 oz or 2 teaspoons) fresh lemon juice
scant 1/4 teaspoon powdered lemon
a very tiny pinch of turmeric, optional, for color
1/2 large egg (23 grams of beaten egg)
86 grams (3 oz or about 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
5 grams (0.2 oz or about 1 1/2 teaspoons) instant clear jel or cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
28 grams (1 oz or 2 Tablespoons) mini lemon baking chips or white baking chips
Lemon Cooler Q & A
Are there any optional ingredients in these cookies?
Yes, you don’t need to buy all the specialty ingredients if you don’t want to or cannot find them. If you look up in the “ingredients and substitutions” section, I recommend substitutes for all the specialty ingredients. You can also choose to leave out the chips, for example. At the end of the day, only you can decide whether accuracy or ease is the path you want to take. They’ll still be tasty, regardless. I promise.
How long will these cookies keep?
Stored at room temperature, tightly sealed, these guys will stay nice and crunchy for a good five days or so. I doubt they will last that long, though.
Can I freeze lemon coolers?
Yes, you may even enjoy eating them frozen like some folks do with Thin Mint cookies. The cookies will keep in a tightly-sealed, freezer-safe container for 3 months or so.