Buttery gluten free lemon poppy seed cookies are a wonderful treat! Make them extra special by topping them with a simple lemon glaze.Â
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
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Recipe
Vegan and Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 2 cups gluten free flour
- â…” 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:
- In a large bowl, beat the buttery spread, sugar, applesauce, and lemon juice on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- 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).
- 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.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- 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.
- Using a round cookie cutter, (or a different shape - flowers would be pretty!) cut out cookies, and quickly transfer them to the cookie sheets.
- Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
- Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze:
- Sift the confectioner's sugar into a mixing bowl.
- 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.
- Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow along:
Celia
I just made this recipe but I used regular flour instead and used the Earth balance sticks for baking. I have to say that the cookies have this unpleasant aftertaste from the vegan buttery spread. Otherwise the lemon poppy is yummy. Is there a particular brand you recommend for buttery spread? I don’t think I like the way my cookies came out and I blame the buttery spread on it. I had to bake mine a bit longer than recommended because at 14 minutes they seemed undercooked and greasy. Baking longer dried them up a bit which was better for texture. Any tips please let me know.