These Over The Top Lemon Drop Candy Cookies are a bakery style cookie that’s a thin, tender, chewy, with a bright lemon flavor. Lemon Drop Candies are the secret ingredient. Betcha can’t eat just one.
There is a little cookie store near my home, Over The Top Gourmet Cookies, that sells the best lemon cookie I’ve ever tasted. They don’t have a subtle lemon flavor like some lemon cookies. They are a sweet, but lemon bar tart cookie.
My neighbor and I decided their secret ingredient is crushed lemon drop candies. (Although I recently found out they use Lemonheads.)
I did an internet search to see if I could find a lemon cookie recipe made with lemon drops and sure enough there were several online, but they used shortening.
I’m pretty sure the Lemon Cookies at Over The Top are made with butter, so I combined a Lemon Drop Candy Cookie recipe with an Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies. The result is a tender, chewy, scrumptious Over the Top Lemon Drop Candy Cookie.
The cookies spread quite a bit, so I only baked eight cookies per sheet. You want to take them out of the oven before the middle is completely set so the cookie is chewy and not crunchy.
The lemon glaze on the cookies really ups the lemon flavor of the cookies. I added just one drop of lemon gel food coloring. Then I finished them with some rainbow sparkling sugar.
Laura from Real Mom Kitchen posted her delicious version of Over the Top Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies. The Over the Top Cookies are definitely the best bakery cookies I’ve ever had. If you are in the Salt Lake area, you need to stop by and try them. My friend tells me their mint cookie is fabulous too.
If you’re a lemon lover, you need to make these cookies asap.
Over The Top Lemon Drop Candy Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 4 ounce package lemon drop candies, crushed
Glaze
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 drop of Lemon Yellow gel food coloring optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Put sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds.
- Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs one at a time; add vanilla and lemon extract. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Stir in crushed lemon drop candies.
- Roll into 1-inch balls (I used a #40 ice cream scoop), flatten slightly and bake on parchment-lined baking sheet for 10-12 minutes until edges start to brown and center is almost set. (The cookies spread quite a bit, so I only baked eight cookies per sheet.) Let cool slightly on pan 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to cooling racks; let cool completely.
- Make a glaze by mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice; then spread over cookie tops.
More lemon cookies you might like:
Lemon Bar Cookie Cups, Barbara Bakes
Lemon Shortbread Cookies, Barbara Bakes
Light and crispy Lemon Oatmeal Cookies, Your Homebased Mom
Lemon Crinkle Cookies, Recipe Girl
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The Sugar Queen
I wish I had some lemon drops right now, so I could make these! I am going to add them to my grocery list. They look delicious!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Fantastic sleuthing mum! They look great and I love a super lemony cookie too! Must run in the family 😉 xxx
Megan
Oh these look terrific!!!
Hey, I gotta good idea, you could bring a batch to Sanfran. We could munch on them on the boat to Alcatraz! 😉
Mags
Oh my….I would absolutely love these. Anything lemon is right up my alley..
Gera @ Sweets Foods Blog
I enjoy a lot lemony stuff-more in cookies! Excellent to have a batch right now, here 🙂
All the best,
Gera
Julie
Wow, these look SO good! I guess necessity (or craving) really is the mother of invention 🙂
Lori
Good thinking Barbara. I love lemon drops. I am quite sure I would LOVE these.
tasteofbeirut
I love anything lemony, including cookies, especially variations of shortbread or sugar cookies; I am actually sucking on a lemon drop right now (it is supposed to contain Vitamin C too) and have been all evening!
Great recipe.
sweetlife
lemon drops are one of my fav candies, and to have the recipe for cookies, how exciting, great recipe
sweetlife
Lo & Go
Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients to use, especially in desserts! I'll have to try these out for sure!
Cool Lassi(e)
Awesome cookies. Love any dessert/cookie made with tangy lemon.
Rocky Mountain Woman
What a great idea for a refreshing hot summer day treat! yum, with sweet tea!
Foodessa
Isn't it great when you manage to figure out the secret ingredient about a treat you enjoy so much. Speaking of treats…this will become mine too because I absolutely adore lemons 🙂
Thanks for sharing this great recipe with us.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Cathy
Wonderful, Barbara. I could feel my salivary glands pucker as I read your post. I love lemon and can't wait to try these cookies. I'm a Reese's peanut butter cup fan as well so will check out that recipe too.
Jessica @ How Sweet
I love lemon desserts so I know I'd love these!
Laura
I'm gonna have to try your lemon version!
islandeat
Hi, Barbara. Well done! I grew up in a house which was a 30-minute walk from Ferrara Pan Candies (the makers of Lemon Drop candies, which had a tiny outlet store even), so I was excited to see a cookie incorporating that tart candy. Thanks, Dan
Cristie
Not only do these cookies look good, but they taste WONDERFUL! Thanks so much for giving us a delicious plateful. My husband fell in love 🙂
elra
Sounds absolutely delicious Barbara. Perfect for weekend treat.
Amanda
These are beautiful Barbara!! I bet they taste amazing 🙂