Duckie Lemon Sugar Cookies

5 from 3 votes

Soft lemon sugar cookies with a delicious sugar crust! This recipe can be made in one bowl with a hand whisk/fork and rubber spatula, making it an easy project for beginner bakers.

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Chill time30

Total Time52

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 179kcal

Author: Bianca Fernandez

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick butter/8 tbsp)
½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (1 medium lemon)
3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 medium lemon)
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Lemon sugar for rolling:

¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
½ tablespoon lemon zest (½ medium lemon)

Decoration for face:

1 tablespoon milk/dark chocolate, melted
4 tablespoons white chocolate, melted
oil-based food coloring (yellow or orange, pink or red), see steps

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Instructions

Making the cookie dough:

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, add granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, rub the lemon zest and sugar together until combined and fragrant. This step infuses the citrus oils with the sugar, enhancing the lemon flavor of your cookies.
Using a hand mixer, stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or a fork, mix in softened butter until smooth. Scrape bottom of bowl.
Add in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until combined. If batter splits it's ok—it will come together after adding flour.
Mix in all of the dry ingredients until no dry spots remain.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This step will hydrate the dough and solidify the butter, making the dough easier to work with. This will also help the dough from spreading in the oven.

Shaping the duckies:

In a small bowl or plate, rub together the lemon sugar ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Use medium cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½-2 tablespoons each). Shape into ball, roll into lemon sugar, then place onto lined baking tray. This will be the duckie's head.
For the tufts of hair, take about ¼ tsp of dough, shape into ball, roll into lemon sugar, and place on top of the head. Repeat with a slightly bigger or smaller piece of dough, and place it next to the other ball.
Place ducks about 3-4 inches apart.
Bake for 9-12 minutes. Cookies should look slightly puffy + soft, and the edges should be set + firm.
Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Let cool completely.

Decorating the duckies:

You can use a toothpick, cookie scribe, or piping bag. I used piping bags + toothpicks.
Add oil-based yellow or orange food coloring to the melted white chocolate. If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy.
To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again. Use this for the beak.
Dye any leftover yellow/orange white chocolate with pink/red food coloring. Use this for the blush.
Use the melted chocolate to draw on the eyes.
Enjoy!

Notes

Make sure you use oil-based food coloring for the white chocolate, or the colors will not blend well.

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

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