Buttery gluten free lemon poppy seed cookies are a wonderful treat! Make them extra special by topping them with a simple lemon glaze.
What are your Mother’s Day plans? If you are a mom, I hope you are going to get to put your feet up for a few minutes and eat a little sweet treat on Sunday! I think that these light gluten free lemon poppy seed cookies are a perfect Mother’s Day brunch or lunch cookie. Crispy, buttery, and flavorful, they are a delicious little dessert.
You can make these plain, or top them with a simple glaze. Lemon juice or water plus some confectioner’s sugar is all it takes to make the glaze. And it’s up to you as far as flavor goes…Darryl prefers a really lemony glaze, and I prefer a sweeter glaze.
This is a very versatile recipe! If you would rather do a sandwich cookie, kind of like these cookies, you can do that! Just make up a batch of dairy free buttercream frosting, and make these into sandwiches.
If you’d rather leave the poppy seeds out, that’s okay, too. These are still very tasty even without poppy seeds.
Best gluten free flour to use for cookies
I think that my gluten free flour blend works very well for these cookies. If you don’t want to make your own blend, try to get a store bought flour blend that’s a little lighter, like Gluten Free 123.
I don’t recommend using coconut flour or almond flour for this recipe. The result will be too heavy and dense – not the light texture that you’d expect in a lemon cookie.
More gluten free vegan cookie recipes
- Classic Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies with White Chocolate Glaze
- Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Vegan and Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 2 cups gluten free flour
- ⅔ cup vegan buttery spread
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 2 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest be careful when you zest the lemon to get only the yellow, not any white!
- 1 Tablespoons poppy seeds
For the glaze:
- 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice or water
Instructions
Make the cookies:
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In a large bowl, beat the buttery spread, sugar, applesauce, and lemon juice on medium speed until light and fluffy.
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Add the gluten free flour blend and lemon zest, mix to combine. Add the poppy seeds and mix. (If the dough seems too wet, add a bit more flour. Texture can vary with different gluten free flour blends).
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Divide the dough into two parts, and shape into discs. Wrap the discs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or freeze for about 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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Lightly flour a rolling pin and rolling surface with gluten free flour. Place the dough on the surface and roll to about a ¼ inch thickness. (If the dough is too cold and stiff, you may have to let it warm up just a little bit before rolling.
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Using a round cookie cutter, (or a different shape - flowers would be pretty!) cut out cookies, and quickly transfer them to the cookie sheets.
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Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
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Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze:
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Sift the confectioner's sugar into a mixing bowl.
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Add the lemon juice, or water, depending on if you want a lemony glaze, or just a sugary glaze, and whisk. If the glaze is too thick, add more liquid.
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Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
Recipe Notes
You can use regular all-purpose flour or white spelt flour if you don't need these to be gluten free.
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container. They should stay fresh for about 5 days.
Follow along:
Angel
Just made these cookies but I couldn’t find my poppy seeds so I threw in a tablespoon of dried basil. My hubby LOVED them! The texture is heavenly. Nice crisp classic cookies!
Kelly Roenicke
Sounds like a nice addition! Glad you loved these!
Carol K
These cookies are what I have been looking for! Do you think I could use earth balance vegan shortening instead of the spread?
Kelly
I think so but I haven’t tried that so I’m not positive. Let me know if you try it that way!
May
Would I be able to use coconut oil instead of the spread?
Pop
Hi I just made it and it became extremely hard. Like unedible hard??
Kelly
Hi there! I’m sorry you experienced this, I didn’t have that problem. Maybe they were in the oven too long, it’s pretty easy to overbake butter cookies.
Tina
Just put them in a container with a piece of bread. That will soften them right up.
Elizabeth
Hi Kelly–these cookies look amazing–love your pics! Just wanted to check before making
them–did you use Earth Balance sticks or from the tub? Thank you!
Kelly
Thank you! I used the tub, but if you have the sticks, they would be fine, too!
Rachel F.
I’d love to make these, but I don’t feel like rolling out dough at the moment lol. Can this dough be used to make them drop cookies, or would it only work rolled out?
Kelly
I’m not actually sure if it would be the same…it may be too thick in the middle and the bottom may burn while the middle stays uncooked.
Mo
I want to bake them for my son. I, too, want to mail the cookies to him. Can I use coconut oil instead applesauce?
Mo
Or what is a substitution for applesauce? Thank you
Kelly
The applesauce is a binder…oil will not work. The recipe already has a lot of buttery spread in it. Are you worried about the applesauce spoiling or something in the mail? It should be just fine once it is baked. You could try a flax egg in its place. That would be 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tablespoons of water. I do not know how it would work in this recipe though, I tested these cookies with applesauce. Good luck! :)
Mo
Thank you, Kelly! I will bake the cookies per your instructions.
Maureen
Hi! How well do these hold up? I want to mail them roughly 1800 miles. Are they on the softer side or the harder side?
Thanks!
Kelly
They are not crumbly…but to be honest, I have never tried to mail cookies, so I don’t know how they would hold up. They are a firmer cookie, so they might be fine! If you try it, please let me know how it works out!
Anna
Can I use mashed bananas instead of applesauce?? I’m out of applesauce and I really want to make this now!!!
Kelly
I have not tried it that way.,..I think the applesauce is more of a neutral flavor, so the lemon can really shine. I wonder if you would taste the banana?
Isadora @ She Likes Food
I love these little lemon cookies! I put lemon on pretty much everything I eat, and I love a good lemon dessert. I also really love shortbread, it is so light and buttery :)
Kelly
Thank you, Isadora!
Yvonne
This look simple yet elegant! Definitely going to give it a try!
theprettybee
Thanks, Yvonne! I hope you enjoy them!
Jill
Can I use just regular flour in place of the gluten free flour?
theprettybee
You sure can!
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext
I love lemon and poppyseed- genius idea baking cookies! Loving that glaze- super delicious!
theprettybee
Thank you so much, Jessica!
Sarah@WholeandHeavenlyOven
These cookies are just perfect for Mother’s Day tomorrow! I just LOVE that photo of the glaze all over that stack of cookies. Lemon and poppyseeds just go so amazing together don’t they?? Have an awesome Mother’s Day weekend, Kelly! Pinned.
theprettybee
Thank you for your sweet words, Sarah! And thanks for pinning!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely
I just love poppy seeds. Such happy little specks in baked goods! I hope you have a great Mother’s Day friend : )
theprettybee
Thank you, Natalie! I love poppy seeds, too!
Graham @ Glazed & Confused
Love these cookies! So simple and dainty. (I don’t think I’ve ever even used the word dainty legitimately before. Congrats!)
theprettybee
Thank you so much! Dainty is what I was going for here! :)