These Lemon Blueberry Cookies combine bright lemon zest and fresh blueberries in a sweet and simple cookie. The recipe does not require chilling and uses only one bowl. It is easy to throw together and uses all real fresh ingredients including fresh blueberries. Lemon and blueberries go so well together in this easy cookie.
Lemon Blueberry Cookies (like Lemon Blueberry Cake or Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake) are great spring or summer cookies. The blueberries sweeten slightly in the oven and go so well with the bright zingy lemon flavor from the fresh lemon zest.
You may also love Raspberry Lemon Bread in the spring and summer when things start to get warm out, these Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies, or these Lemon Poppyseed Blueberry Muffins. Or this recipe for Apple Cinnamon Blondies with fresh apples in the Fall.
These Blueberry Lemon Cookies are not typical cookies, perhaps you would find them at a bakery or cafe that loves putting a fresh spin on cookies. I love bakery-style cookies so much that I have created a number of recipes featuring large chewy cafe cookies like these White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, or these Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies.
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🌟 Why You'll Love These Cookies
Real Fresh Ingredients: These cookies use real blueberries and real lemon for bright fresh flavor.
Quick: They come together in 20 minutes.
Specialty: These are not your typical chocolate chip or sugar cookies. They're specialty cookies, something a little unique to brighten your day.
🎦 Video Step-by-Step
🫐 Why Frozen Blueberries Do Not Work
These cookies are best with fresh blueberries. Unlike frozen blueberries, fresh blueberries incorporate well into the cookie dough. I have made these with frozen blueberries and the cookies do not turn out as well for a few reasons.
Cell Structure: The frozen blueberries do not incorporate well into the dough. When blueberries (and other fruit) are frozen the water inside freezes and expands breaking the internal cell structure. This changes the texture of the blueberries, making them softer. They are not as firm as fresh blueberries. The juice in the blueberries therefore runs more freely and bleeds into the dough, which makes the dough dark and unappetizing.
Dough Siezes Up: Another difficulty with frozen blueberries is that when you add them to the dough, you’re essentially adding ice (i.e. frozen blueberries) to a room temperature dough. The dough will seize up. It will be much more difficult to work with and shape into balls to place on a baking sheet.
Flat Cookies: Lastly, more of the liquid from inside the frozen blueberries escapes as you are mixing and baking, creating flatter cookies. If using frozen wild blueberries, reduce the amount of blueberries included to ½ cup rather than 1 cup. Wild blueberries are smaller and therefore ½ cup of wild blueberries will be more similar to 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Add 2 minutes to the baking time since there is more liquid from the berries in the dough.
🍋 Lemon Zest, Lemon Juice, & Lemon Extract
- Lemon Zest: The best way to add real lemon flavor to cookies is to add lemon zest from fresh lemons. I have made dozens and dozens of lemon cookies with many different approaches trying to get that perfect bright lemony flavor.
- Lemon Extract: Adding lemon extract is a good alternative to lemon zest. It does not add too much extra liquid (like lemon juice would). The flavor is nice and intense without being sour. The drawback to lemon extract, however, is that it can have a bit of a manufactured taste rather than the bright fresh flavor that you get from real lemons.
- Lemon Juice: Adding fresh lemon juice is usually problematic for a couple of reasons. To get enough flavor out of the juice you need to add a fair amount of lemon juice. This adds too much liquid to any cookie batter. You would need to compensate with additional flour, so much so that the cookie would not turn out right. The other issue is lemon juice can be quite sour.
- Lemon Curd: If you're looking for a recipe using lemon curd, try these Lemon Curd Cookies.
📝 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Lemon Blueberry Cookies.
- Butter: Ensure that your butter is softened but it should not be too soft or it will cause the cookies to spread.
- Granulated Sugar: I err on the side of less sugar in this cookie since there is so much flavor from the lemon zest and sweet blueberries
- Lemon Zest: Choose bright yellow lemons at the grocery store and zest only the bright yellow outside, not the white pithy part. The lemon zest is where the lemon flavor comes from, so while it takes some work to zest them, you’ll often get a handle on it quickly and it's worth the effort.
- Salt: Helps to brighten the other flavors.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Act to leaven.
- Lemon Juice: For a little bit of acidity.
- Egg: Adds richness, a binding agent, and leavens. Only 1 egg is needed.
- Fresh Blueberries: Be sure to wash and pat the blueberries dry. If they are not dry, they will add additional water to the dough changing the proportion of wet and dry ingredients impacting the shape and texture of the cookie. Fresh blueberries are best but frozen blueberries and blueberry jam can be used as substitutes with varying degrees of success. See detailed notes below.
- Ingredients Not Included: I did not include vanilla in this recipe as I really want the flavor of the lemon and the blueberry to stand out. I do not want to complicate the taste with more flavors.
To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations on Lemon Blueberry Cookies
In search of the perfect Lemon Blueberry Cookies, I have tried several different variations. I have used blueberry jam, frozen blueberries, fresh blueberries, half lemon cookie dough and half blueberry dough, and very cakey lemon blueberry cookies.
- Lemon Blueberry Jam Cookies: Add in a few scoops of blueberry jam and fold the cookie dough 2-3x to incorporate streaks of blueberry jam. If using blueberry jam, add ¼ cup more flour BEFORE adding in the jam. Add the jam only after all other ingredients have been incorporated. Add 2-4 tbsps of jam in dollops. Then fold the cookie dough 2-3x before scooping into balls and adding to the baking sheet. For another jam recipe, try these Strawberry Jam Cookies.
- Half Lemon and Half Blueberry Jam: Separate the dough into two with half remaining just lemon cookies. Incorporate blueberry jam into the other half. Then make each cookie with a tablespoon of the lemon cookie dough and a tablespoon of the blueberry jam dough.
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies with Frozen Blueberries: Not recommended. Frozen blueberries do not incorporate well into the dough, they leach blue into the dough creating unappetizing cookies, and they are frozen so the dough "sizes" up. See the detailed note above on using frozen blueberries for more information.
- Cakey Lemon Blueberry Cookies: I made a cakey version of these Lemon Blueberry Cookies. Using an extra egg in the dough creates an extra cakey cookie, however, the combination of the lemon and blueberry in a cakey cookie, while it seems like the perfect fit, was pretty bland. You're missing out on the chewiness of a cookie, but not quite getting the satisfaction of a soft cupcake or muffin. You're missing out on the best of two different worlds.
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies with Fresh Blueberries: See the recipe below.
All of these variations will taste good and are fun to try. However, after having experimented with ALL of them, the best by far is the classic Lemon Blueberry Cookies with fresh blueberries that I have written in the recipe below.
👩🏻🍳 How To Make Lemon Blueberry Cookies
Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for making Lemon Blueberry Cookies.
*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Prep. Preheat the Oven to 350℉.
Step 1. Cream the Butter and Sugar. In a large mixing bowl combine the softened butter and granulated sugar.
Step 2. Add Wet Ingredients. Add the egg and lemon juice and mix to combine.
Tip: Juice the entire lemon and use the extra lemon juice to make a quick lemonade, or slice the lemon and add it to water for a refreshing drink.
Step 3. Add the Dry Ingredients: Add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest, and flour and combine. Make sure that the ingredients are incorporated evenly.
Tip: If you want extra lemony cookies, zest an additional lemon and add the zest to the cookie dough.
Step 4. Add the Blueberries: Add the blueberries and gently stir them into the cookie dough with a large mixing spoon.
Step 5. Bake the Cookies: Scoop roughly 2 tablespoons worth of dough for each cookie and place on a cookie sheet. You can fit about 9 cookies per cookie sheet.
Bake at 350℉ for 10 minutes. The cookies are done when they start to turn a very light brown on the edges but are still pale in the middle.
Tip: If you want perfectly round cookies, once the cookies come out of the oven, turn a large glass upside down, place it around 1 cookie at a time, and gently swirl it around the cookie while it's still warm.
📋 Lemon Blueberry Cookie FAQs
Because these cookies are made with fresh blueberries they are best eaten the same day. They will still be good the next day, however, more of the juice from inside the cookie will leak out which will change the texture and consistency of the cookie.
The blueberries will not make the cookies soggy when freshly baked. However, they are best eaten the same day. They may become wetter on the second day as the blueberries release more juice over time.
To prevent the dough from turning purple use fresh, firm blueberries. The fresher the better and the less likely they will burst while mixing. Gently incorporate the blueberries into the dough with a spoon, not a mixer.
The best way to store the cookies is to keep them on a single layer on a flat surface on the counter. They are best eaten on the same day, or max 1 day later.
🧁 Other Berry Desserts
Raspberry Lemon Loaf: Intensely lemony and raspberry dessert in a sweet dessert loaf
Blueberry French Toast Casserole: An overnight challah bread french toast casserole with blueberry jam and blueberries added at the end for an intense pop of flavor.
Swedish Blueberry Pie: Like a crumble but with a more intense thick topping.
Mini Egg Bars: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Cadbury Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs, great for Spring or Easter.
If you tried this Lemon Blueberry Cookie Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Lemon Blueberry Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a large bowl combine the softened butter and granulated sugar.
- Add in the egg and lemon juice and combine.
- Add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest, and flour and combine.
- Add the blueberries in and gently combine by hand with a spoon until just incorporated. Be careful not to smush the blueberries.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoon worth of dough for each cookie and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
- These cookies are best eaten the same day. The water content in the blueberries will impact the texture and consistency of the cookies the following day.
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