Chewy Lemon Cookies (whole Wheat & Butterless)

One of the many things I love about our new house is that it came with a lemon tree! I grew up with a lemon tree in our backyard, and it is just so convenient to run out and grab a lemon when you need one! But honestly, when we bought the house, my mom and I were hoping it was a lime tree (the fruit wasn’t ripe yet so we weren’t sure) so we could swap citrus ;)

Anyways, I LOVE lemon flavored anything and I have been working on a healthier lemon cookie recipe to share with you guys. This isn’t raw kale folks, so I’m not telling you to eat the entire batch in one sitting either.

This recipe is made with whole wheat flour and is butterless! I also got to experiment with Nektar Honey Crystals (I bought mine from Whole Foods)! Nektar Honey Crystals are 100% all natural granulated honey- basically honey in a convenient packet that doesn’t make a sticky mess or harden in a bottle. It made this recipe super easy to just open a couple packets and add my honey!

1 packet = 1 teaspoon liquid honey

A printable version of this recipe is at the bottom of the page

Ingredients

2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup olive oil (light is preferred)
1 large egg
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
2 packets Nektar Honey Crystals (equal to 2 tsp liquid honey)
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice

Glaze

1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 cups powder sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Mix to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, olive oil, egg, almond extract, Nektar Honey Crystals, lemon zest, and lemon juice until thoroughly combined.

With the mixer on low, slowly add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix just until combined. Repeat this process, adding 1/3 of the dry mixture at a time, until everything is combined. It will look moist but crumbly (see photo below).

On a non-stick surface (I have used a Silpat, parchment paper, and even plastic wrap will work), carefully dump dough into a pile. Mold it into a tight ball (it should no longer look crumbly).

Place a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Break off small balls of dough from your large ball (it might be a little crumbly, but just press the dough firmly in your hands until it combines). Mold the small balls into disks, about 1.5 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick (see below).

Bake for ~8 minutes. They will crack a little bit on the edges and look dryer, but I promise they will be chewy :)

Once they are cool enough to handle, place cookies on a wire rack and cool completely.

Place a piece of wax paper under your wire rack (This is just to catch the glaze and make clean-up easier). Mix all the glaze ingredients together with a fork or whisk. Drizzle over the cooled cookies.

Let the glaze harden. And voila!