Last Updated on September 22, 2026 by The Allergy Chef
Hey there baking buddy! I’m so glad you found this amazing gluten free lemon cookies recipe because the lemon flavour is next level. Whilst we’ll be leaning into simple ingredients today, each one pulls its weight and knows how to shine.
These delicious lemon cookies are also grain free, dairy free, and TRULY CORN FREE!! Even if you don’t need grain free, I promise, these cookies will NOT let you down. So, grab your tools and let’s make fluffy cookies together.
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nuts, Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Alliums, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Berries, Buckwheat, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Coconut, Corn, Cruciferous, Garlic, Latex Cross Reactive Foods (H/M), Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshades, Oat, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety) Poultry, Red Meat, Rice, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: EOE, FPIES, Vegan
Tools to Make These Gluten-Free Cookies
- Kitchen Scale (this is the one that I love)
- Small Bowl (for the flax gel)
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment OR Electric Hand Mixer + Large Bowl
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Spatula (this is the one that I really like)
- Cookie Scoop
Ingredients for This Gluten Free Lemon Cookies Recipe
Flax Gel/Bind
- 3 TBSP Golden Flax Meal (use this brand for best results, and it’s corn free)
- 6 TBSP Water (room temperature)
Note: This is sometimes called a flax egg, but I don’t use the term because there isn’t a universal standard measurement.
Part 1 Ingredients
- 170g Organic Shortening (6 ounces)
- 220g Organic Maple Sugar
- 50g Organic Light Brown Sugar
Part 2 Ingredients (Dry Ingredients)
- 300g Organic Cassava Flour (this is the brand for truly corn free)
- 4 tsp Baking Powder (corn free baking powder article)
- 1/2 tsp Redmond’s Pink Salt
Part 3 Ingredients
- 3 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract (use this brand for truly corn free, and just the BEST results)
- 3 tsp Organic Lemon Zest
- 10 tsp Organic Fresh Lemon Juice (jarred is fine if you aren’t truly corn free)
Note: You can boost the lemon flavor by using an extra Tablespoon of lemon zest, or by brushing on organic food grade lemon oil after baking.
Important Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Shortening: As a truly corn free + dairy free recipe, these cookies are made with organic palm shortening. If you don’t need this, use 170g of unsalted butter or dairy free butter (sometimes called vegan butter) in its place.
Organic Maple Sugar: This can be swapped for organic coconut sugar, or organic date sugar. If you use more of the cane sugar, the cookies will be too sweet. This is a granulated sweetener and cannot be swapped for a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup, agave, or applesauce.
Organic Light Brown Sugar: You can swap this for organic dark brown sugar if you’d like more depth of flavour. Alternatively, if you’d like your gluten free lemon cookies to be made with 100% unrefined sweetener, swap this for 50g of the organic maple sugar.
Additionally, for a more tart and in your face cookie, leave out this 50g of sugar.
Cassava Flour: This is a grain free flour. It can be swapped for regular wheat based all purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour. It cannot be swapped for a single gluten free flour such as almond flour, coconut flour, sorghum flour, sweet rice flour, and so on.
Lemon Juice: !0 teaspoons is 3 tablespoons of lemon juice plus one teaspoon. However, if you want a little extra lemon punch, use 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice instead.
Truly Corn Free Sourcing Notes
If you manage a severe corn allergy like me, there’s a very good chance that most of the ingredients you’ll need won’t be at the local grocery store. You’ll need to order online, or hit a local farmer’s market.
Get yourself fresh lemons that aren’t waxed (this is harder than you think). Start with a farmer’s market, and look at LocalHarvest.org as well. If you’re in California, get lemons from McFarlin (Cliff).
Vanilla: I linked to the brand, but only get the vanilla extract from said brand. I can’t vouch for the corn free nature of any other product they sell.
More Delicious Gluten Free Cookie Recipes
If you’re always on the hunt for great gluten-free recipes, I’ve got you covered. These easy recipes will not let you down… The best part is they’re super inclusive without losing their delicious edge.
- Gluten Free Cakey Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Gluten Free, Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe (this is from my award winning free-from bakery, so make them asap)
- Soft Baked Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (also from my award winning free-from bakery)
- Easy AIP Paleo Pumpkin Cookies Recipe (another truly corn free recipe, at your service)
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Gluten Free Lemon Cookie Directions
- Oven Temperature: 325f/160c
- Baking Time: 14 Minutes
Start by combining your flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.
Next, place your empty mixing bowl on your kitchen scale. Tare to zero, then add the Part 1 Ingredients. Cream (mix) your shortening, maple sugar, and light brown sugar together.
Return the bowl to the scale (you can leave the attachment in for ease), and tare to zero. Add in all of the Part 2 Ingredients (dry ingredients) then mix together.
Turn your mixer off and add in the Part 3 Ingredients (wet ingredients) and mix again until a dough forms. Turn the mixer off, add your flax gel, and mix one last time. Once you have an awesome dough, turn the mixer off.
Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. I like to let some of the paper hang over the edges for an easier clean up. Use a cookie dough scoop to portion out your dough. Scoop dough on to your parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll each portion into a ball, then flatten to your desired thickness. The flatter you press, the more “hint of crunch” you’ll have in the end.
Bake at 325f/160c for 14 minutes, and cool on the baking tray. For storage, I recommend freezing (details below).
That’s it! You’ve got amazing gluten free lemon cookies that taste amazing, and they’re truly corn free!
Lemon Cookie Storage Instructions
After you’ve made these delicious gluten free lemon cookies, it’s time to store them. You can store your cooled cookies on the countertop at room temperature for 4 days (covered), or you can freeze them for many months. I don’t suggest storing extras in the fridge. Note that countertop storage will alter the moisture of this particular cookie recipe, and you may not love the results by day 4.
These cookies were designed to be freezer friendly, so lean into that. To freeze your cookies, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. It’s OK if the sides of the cookies are touching. If you need a second layer, place a large piece of parchment paper over the first layer of cookies first. The pieces of parchment paper between the layers will prevent the cookies from freezing together and clumping, or being hard to separate.
Place the entire baking tray into your freezer. Once your awesome lemon cookies are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight container. You can store them in a container with a lid, or in a large freezer bag. Be sure to label your container with the date and flavour.
These cookies can be frozen for 4 – 6 months before you start to see a decline in the texture. To thaw, leave some cookies out on the counter, at room temperature for 45 – 60 minutes. Once thawed, you’ve got the perfect cookie to enjoy, loaded with lemony flavor.
Tasty Ways to Enjoy These Truly Corn Free Lemon Cookies
Glaze Your Lemon Cookies
Add a glaze on top of the cookies. You can go wild with this because there are a lot of flavours that will pair well with lemon. You could even use a nut butter as the base (rather than powdered sugar + water) and flavour it (use creamy cashew butter for the best results). It can be a smile glaze like lemon zest or something with thyme, or even honey. When it comes to tart lemon, flavors to avoid will be cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and anything else too polarizing.
Interestingly, you can get away with chocolate, ginger, and even banana, so long as the flavours are in balance. As you make your glaze (or even a thin lemon icing) start with a small amount of the additional flavour(s) and taste as you go along. I’ll also add this… if you are a lemon LOVER, make a lemon glaze for a lemon on lemon experience that will make your heart SING.
Combine Your Lemon Cookies with Cake
Use these vegan lemon cookies as cake decor! You could make a lemon cake, or even something like a strawberry or blueberry pound cake, add a glaze, then add crumbles of this cookie recipe on top. Y. U. M!!!
Use a Different Citrus Fruit
Use the base recipe for ratios, but swap all of the lemon parts for orange (orange zest, orange juice). You’ll still have fluffy, fragrant cookies with a soft center, but they’ll punch you with an orange flavour instead of lemon. You can also use other citrus fruits such as lime, but you’ll need to increase the amount of zest you use. Additionally, you may want to get an organic food grade oil to brush on one last pop of flavour before serving your amazing gluten free cookies.
More Tasty Gluten Free Lemon Dessert Recipes
Whilst most of these lemon desserts are on my RAISE Membership website, they’re available if you need them. Each one is gluten free, vegan, egg free, top 9 free, and more.
- Gluten Free Lemon Muffins (add frosting and you can totally call these gluten-free lemon cupcakes)
- Gluten Free Lemon Basil Cake Recipe
- Gluten Free Crunchy Lemon Cookies Recipe
- Bakery Lemon Cake Recipe
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Answering Your Questions About This Gluten Free Lemon Cookies Recipe
Can I add lemon extract for more flavor?
I don’t suggest adding lemon extract. My taste testers have deemed even high quality organic lemon extract to be terrible in lemon desserts. Honestly, they’re spoiled because I’m always using the best of the best of the best for recipes.
Many say that it tastes weirdly synthetic, and when we compare organic lemon extract to organic food grade lemon oil, the lemon oil ALWAYS wins. If you want more lemon flavour, get some organic food grade lemon oil, and brush a little on top of your cookies after you pull them out of the oven.
Will coconut oil work in place of the shortening?
When it comes to making these gluten-free vegan lemon cookies, this is a swap that *might* work. So, coconut oil and shortening are both solid at room temperature. That’s the key by the way, anytime you need to swap a fat in a baking recipe.
However, coconut oil has a TASTE. Now, I have a couple of taste testers who are allergic to coconut, so it’s not something I use often. In terms of function, your cookies should be OK with the swap.
In terms of taste, you might be walking into the largest LEGO store on the planet and they have a sale going, and not a chinky sale, but a good one. Where you save like, 50% on really good sets. Yeah, the cookies might be that good. Or…. you might be walking bare foot in the mud, and ready to cry because it’s getting between your toes, and making weird sounds, and more rain is on the horizon. Honestly, it could go either way.
Having said all of that, the best way forward is to make a half batch of cookies with the coconut oil, then find out if it’s LEGO store good, or walking in the mud bad. Happy baking!
Can I use kosher salt instead of the pink salt?
Maybe. The issue will be weight vs volume since the shape of the salt can vary. This recipe calls for volume (tsp) rather than weight (grams). However, since we’re only dealing with a small amount of salt in these tasty cookies, you should be able to safely use kosher salt.
Can this cookie recipe be shaped with cookie cutters?
Unfortunately, your rolling pin and favorite cookie cutters will have to stay in the cabinet. Whilst this recipe is epic for lemon lovers, it’s not suitable for rolling and cutting.
These gluten free lemon cookies puff up when they bake, and there’s a decent amount of spread. If you were to use cookie cutters, once baked, you’ll see that they didn’t hold their shape and you did all that work for nothing. Even if you chill the dough first, I don’t think it would work out for you.
Is this a super sweet cookie?
I think that depends on who you ask. If you take someone that mainly eats savory foods and think that bitter kale is the bees knees, they will tell you this is a SWEET cookie.
On the flip side, if you take someone that eats the Standard American Diet (SAD) and give them one of these bad boys, they may say it’s almost not sweet enough. Wild right?
For people who tend to consume a somewhat reduced amount of added granulated sugar in their diet, and maybe follow the 80/20 principles, they’d say this cookie is just right, and it’s a lovely treat.
Can I use this recipe to make gluten-free lemon crinkle cookies?
I’m going to have to lean on the side of no. I’ve never made gluten-free lemon crinkle cookies before, so I looked up a basic, non-gluten-free recipe, just to see what it’s all about. Based on the instructions and ingredients, and what the final results should be, this gluten free lemon cookies recipe won’t produce the same results.
I mean, you could try tweaking it, but you know how free-from can get. You start making changes and suddenly, things stop working as expected. I’d encourage you to find a proper lemon crinkle cookie that’s designed for gluten free, egg free, and so on, if that’s what you need.
Will a homemade gluten-free flour blend work for this cookie recipe?
Sure! If you have a homemade gluten-free flour blend that’s something like oat flour + tapioca starch + brown rice flour, you should be able to use that in place of the organic cassava flour and still have fantastic gluten-free lemon cookies.
However, if you have a blend that’s maybe, tapioca flour + coconut flour, or maybe arrowroot + almond flour, those kinds of blends won’t work well when making these lemon cookies.
When in doubt, make a half batch of cookies with your homemade gluten-free flour blend and see what you think. Have fun!
Will this lemon cookie recipe turn out well even though there’s no xanthan gum?
Yes!! Great news, well, not great, but you get the idea. I personally have a severe, life threatening corn allergy. That means a LOT of ingredients are off the table, including most xanthan gum.
I’ve been able to own and operate an award winning GF + free-from bakery, all without xanthan gum. Now, I did tinker with guar gum at one point, but when I did side by side comparisons (even with a freeze and thaw test), the guar gum didn’t have a meaningful impact.
Here’s why: I don’t call for all purpose flour. Instead, I make a custom gluten free flour blend for all of my recipes. This means there’s balance from the start, and you don’t need dough conditioners and enhancers and additives to boost the results. In the case of this recipe, even though there’s one main flour, it’s in perfect balance with the sugar and supporting ingredients, so you don’t need extra bits and bobs to get to work well.
As long as you follow the recipe as-is, yes, it will turn out beautifully, even without xanthan gum, guar gum, and all their friends.
Can I use baking soda instead of baking powder?
Nope, and I’m so glad you asked because they aren’t the same thing. Well, no as a 1:1. Generally, you don’t want to use more than half a teaspoon of baking soda in a batch of cookies. If you use more, you’ll negatively impact the flavour. Some recipes can get away with up to a teaspoon, but more than that and people will KNOW.
Since this is a gluten free + egg free recipe, the baking powder is there to provide lift. Since this is also a delicious lemon cookie, we have the added acid from our real lemon juice (can you believe anything less than real is sold?), which will amplify that lift.
Just know that you can’t make a 1:1 swap. If you don’t have baking powder, or don’t have a safe brand, you can use 3/4 tsp of baking soda, and leave everything else the same. You’ll still have the bonus help from the lemon, but know that you won’t have the same light and fluffy cookies like what’s in the photo.
Is a cookie sheet the same thing as a baking tray?
A cookie sheet and a baking tray (also called a baking sheet) are similar, but not quite the same. Unfortunately, a lot of homemade cookie recipes online use the terms interchangeably. Baking trays are solid, without holes, and generally has some weight to it, which prevents warping. It’s also usually dishwasher safe.
On the other hand, a cookie sheet is lighter, usually doesn’t have a lip/raised border, and often has small holes all over to promote better airflow. These slight changes allow for most cookie dough balls to bake up to cookie perfection.
In terms of if you’ll see a huge difference between the two, that’s going to depend on the cookie recipe. Some genuinely require improved airflow to perform their best. If you’re following my recipe, know that for the best cookies, you’ll only need a standard baking tray.
Should I cool my cookies on a cooling rack?
Nope, you don’t need to do that. I’ve been making free-from cookies professionally for over a decade, and guess what? I’ve never once used a cooling rack for cooling my free-from traditional cookies (or my wild cookie inventions).
All you need to do is allow the cookies to cool on the tray as instructed, then you can transfer them to the countertop without an issue.
