Lemon Blueberry Cookies (Soft & Chewy)
Soft, tender lemon sugar cookies filled with blueberries and a blueberry jam and topped with a sugar streusel, these lemon blueberry cookies are a hit with everyone who tries them.
Servings: 12
Calories: 258kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Jam
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Streusel
- ¼ cup cold butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
Cookies
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
Jam
- Cook the blueberries by combining the blueberries and sugar into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave on high for 1 minute. Cool in the refrigerator.
Streusel
- In a small bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, and the cold butter.
- Mix with either your hands or a fork until the ingredients are combined and resemble a coarse crumb.
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare the dough. In a large bowl, add and combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and lemon zest.
- Add the lemon juice and egg. Continue to mix.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
- Use an electric mixer to beat well until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Gently fold in the fresh blueberries with a spatula, mixing carefully to avoid breaking the blueberries.
- Use a cookie scoop to form the cookies and place the dough on the prepared baking sheet.
- Shape each cookie into a round shape and form a small indentation in the center with a spoon or your finger.
- Add a small amount of the jam into the indentation.
- Sprinkle the top with the streusel.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until they are golden brown on the edges and the streusel is crispy.
- Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
These cookies were tested to strike the right balance between soft centers, defined shape, and that sweet-tart lemon blueberry flavor. A few small details make a noticeable difference.
The blueberry jam is quick but important. Cooking the berries for just about a minute helps concentrate the flavor and keeps the centers from getting watery as the cookies bake. Let it cool before using so it stays in place when you add it to the dough.
When folding in the fresh blueberries, go gently. In early tests, overmixing caused the berries to break and bleed into the dough, which affected both texture and appearance. Keeping them mostly whole gives you those pockets of fruit throughout the cookie.
The streusel adds more than just texture. Using cold butter is key here. If the butter softens too much, the topping melts into the cookie instead of staying lightly crisp on top. You want a coarse crumb that holds its shape going into the oven.
For the lemon flavor, zest does most of the work. In testing, increasing the zest made the cookies taste brighter without throwing off the balance, while too much juice made the dough too soft. Stick with fresh zest and a small amount of juice for the best result.
Bake just until the edges are set and lightly golden. The centers should still look slightly soft when you pull them from the oven. They’ll finish setting as they cool, which keeps the texture tender rather than dry.
Store the cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
You can freeze either the dough or the cookies themselves. Let them thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 258kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 381IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
