Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies are the recipe that Lucia makes every summer when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and most genuinely impressive individual vegan cookie that is so beautifully and so completely buttery and so perfectly melt-in-the-mouth and so vibrantly lemon-zested that absolutely every person who tastes one — whether they follow a vegan diet or have never considered a vegan cookie in their lives — immediately and completely declares them the most extraordinary lemon cookie they have ever tasted.
She rubs the most fragrant lemon zest into the caster sugar until the most deeply lemon-oil-infused and most beautifully fragrant sugar forms, creams with cold cubed dairy-free butter and a drop of yellow food gel until the most pale and most genuinely fluffy mixture forms, sifts through the flour for the most perfectly thick and most properly shortbread-like dough, chills for forty minutes, rolls out to half an inch thickness, cuts into the most charming lemon-shaped ovals, bakes until the most beautifully golden-edged result, and then fills each pair with the most whipped and most luxuriously light and most deeply lemon-fragrant dairy-free cream cheese filling.
Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies are the most easy and deeply melt-in-mouth dairy-free egg-free lemon shortbread cookies made with caster sugar lemon zest dairy-free cold butter flour and yellow food gel chilled 40 minutes and baked at 180°C for 10 to 12 minutes filled with whipped dairy-free butter cream cheese icing sugar lemon extract and zest. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful vegan cookie recipes and easy plant-based baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies recipe is the most completely extraordinary and most genuinely impressive plant-based cookie that produces a result so beautifully buttery and so perfectly melt-in-the-mouth and so vibrantly lemon-bright that it cannot be distinguished from any conventional non-vegan lemon shortbread sandwich cookie by texture, by flavor, by appearance, or by the most extraordinarily creamy and most deeply lemon-fragrant filling, because the most carefully selected and most quality dairy-free butter and cream cheese alternatives in this recipe perform identically to their conventional counterparts in every most important baking function.
The technique of rubbing the lemon zest into the caster sugar before creaming with the butter is the single most brilliant and most flavor-maximizing step in the entire recipe. This rubbing process releases the most essential citrus oils from the lemon zest cells into the surrounding sugar crystals, producing the most deeply lemon-infused and most vibrantly fragrant sugar that carries the most intense lemon character throughout every single bite of the finished shortbread cookie from the very first moment of preparation. Our Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes make a beautifully equally bright and equally dairy-free companion for a complete and wonderful vegan citrus baking collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
For the Lemon Shortbread Cookies:
- 100g Caster Sugar, plus extra for coating baked cookies
- Fresh Zest of 2 Medium Lemons
- 200g Dairy-Free Block Butter, cold and cubed
- 300g All-Purpose Plain Flour
- 1 drop Yellow Food Gel
For the Lemon Cream Filling:
- 150g Dairy-Free Butter
- 20g Dairy-Free Cream Cheese
- 200g Icing Sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp Pure Lemon Extract
- Fresh Zest of 1 Lemon
- Fresh Mint Leaves for decoration (optional)
How to Make This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Add the caster sugar to a bowl along with the fresh lemon zest. Use fingertips to rub the lemon zest most thoroughly into the sugar until the most fragrant and most deeply lemon-oil-infused mixture forms. The rubbing releases the essential oils from the zest cells into the sugar crystals for the most vibrant lemon flavor in the finished cookies.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a spatula, cream the cold cubed dairy-free butter, drop of yellow food gel, and the lemon sugar together until the mixture is the most pale and most beautifully fluffy. Sift in the all-purpose flour and mix until a thick and cohesive cookie dough forms, cara mia.
Transfer the dough to plastic wrap or baking paper and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes to one hour until the most firm and most properly workable consistency is achieved.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Once the dough is chilled and firm, roll out on a generously floured work surface to approximately half-inch thickness. Cut into shapes using an oval or lemon-shaped cookie cutter. Place on the lined baking tray.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden at the edges, turning the tray halfway through for the most even baking throughout. Remove from oven and cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Allow to cool fully before filling.
For the cream filling, add the dairy-free butter and dairy-free cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and whip until the most completely creamy and most smooth mixture forms. Add the sifted icing sugar, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Whip to combine then increase to high speed for 5 minutes until the buttercream is the most beautifully pale and most luxuriously fluffy. Add a splash of dairy-free milk if too thick.
Transfer the cream filling to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip nozzle. Dip the tops of half the cookies in caster sugar. Pipe cream onto the flat sides of the remaining cookies and press the sugar-coated cookies on top to sandwich. Add a mint leaf for decoration if desired.
How to Serve This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Serve chilled from the refrigerator for the most completely firm and most beautifully held vegan lemon sandwich cookie with the most properly set and most elegantly piped lemon cream filling at its most luxuriously dense and most deeply satisfying serving temperature. These cookies are most exquisitely presented on a marble or wooden board with scattered fresh mint leaves and lemon slices.
For the most complete summer tea party or elegant afternoon gathering, arrange the vegan lemon sandwich cookies alongside other small individual treats on a beautiful tiered display for the most completely impressive and most genuinely plant-based dessert spread. Our Lemon Sandwich Cookies make a beautifully equally elegant and equally lemon-bright companion for a complete and wonderful lemon sandwich cookie collection.
How to Store This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy chilled. Best enjoyed within 3 to 4 days of making. The cookies become the most beautifully firm and most cleanly sliceable when thoroughly chilled throughout and stay most extraordinary when served cold directly from the refrigerator.
Tips to Make This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Use cold cubed dairy-free butter rather than room-temperature softened butter for the most properly crumbly and most authentic shortbread-textured lemon cookie. Cold butter in shortbread produces a most beautiful sandy and most melt-in-the-mouth crumb from the fat coating the flour particles before mixing, which inhibits gluten development for the most perfectly tender shortbread character.
Roll the dough on a generously floured work surface to prevent any sticking. A lightly sticky shortbread dough that adheres to the surface mid-rolling is the most frustrating and most result-compromising outcome of inadequate surface flouring. Generously flour both the work surface and the rolling pin for the most smooth and most effortlessly even rolling.
Helpful Notes for This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
If a lemon-shaped or oval cookie cutter is unavailable, any round cookie cutter produces equally delicious vegan lemon sandwich cookies — the lemon shape is purely for the most charming and most whimsically themed presentation. A standard round cutter produces the most classic and most clean sandwich cookie appearance.
The reduced strawberry puree shortcut from the previous lemon sandwich cookie recipe applies here too — three tablespoons of the most high-quality strawberry jam can substitute for the lemon cream filling for the most beautifully vibrant and most naturally pink vegan lemon strawberry sandwich cookie variation.
Variation of This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Maria made a version dipping the bottom of each assembled sandwich cookie in melted dairy-free dark chocolate and allowing to set on parchment for the most completely extraordinary chocolate-dipped vegan lemon sandwich cookie. Teresa tried adding half a teaspoon of lavender extract to the lemon cream filling for the most beautifully fragrant and most completely extraordinary lavender lemon vegan sandwich cookie.
For a raspberry lemon vegan version, fold two tablespoons of seedless raspberry jam through the lemon cream filling before piping for the most beautifully pink and most completely vibrant raspberry lemon vegan sandwich cookie filling. Our Lemon Raspberry Cookies make a beautifully equally fruity and equally lemon-vibrant companion for a complete and wonderful summer lemon cookie collection.
FAQs About This Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies Recipe
What is the best dairy-free butter for these vegan lemon sandwich cookies?
Block-style dairy-free butter that is cold and firm — such as Flora Plant Butter or Naturli Vegan Block — is the most specifically recommended for these shortbread-style vegan lemon cookies. Block dairy-free butter has the most similar fat content and most similar baking behavior to conventional block butter, producing the most properly crumbly and most beautifully melt-in-the-mouth shortbread texture. Spread-style dairy-free butter contains more water and less fat, which produces a significantly different and less desirable texture in the finished cookies.
Why is chilling the dough for 40 minutes essential?
Chilling the assembled dough for the full 40 minutes to one hour allows the cold cubed dairy-free butter to re-firm after the mixing process and prevents the cookies from spreading too aggressively during baking. The chilled dough also rolls out most smoothly and most evenly on the floured surface, producing the most cleanly cut and most beautifully defined individual cookie shapes. Skipping or shortening the chill produces a stickier dough that is more difficult to roll and cut and cookies that spread more during baking.
Can I make these vegan lemon sandwich cookies gluten-free?
Yes. All-purpose plain flour can be substituted with a gluten-free one-to-one baking flour in the same quantity. The texture may be slightly more crumbly than the conventional flour version but the flavor will be equally vibrant and equally beautifully lemon-forward. Ensure that all other ingredients — including the dairy-free butter and cream cheese — are certified gluten-free if strict compliance is required.
Conclusion
These Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies are the most completely extraordinary and most genuinely beautiful plant-based summer sandwich cookie that makes every gathering and every tea party feel genuinely and completely special through the most melt-in-the-mouth lemon zest shortbread and the most whipped and most vibrantly lemon-fragrant dairy-free cream filling in every single elegantly shaped and completely irresistible vegan lemon sandwich cookie bite. We hope they bring the same deeply joyful vegan summer lemon happiness and the same completely delighted gathering to your kitchen that they have always brought to ours. Make them, share them, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies The Most Easy Melt In Mouth Lemon Cream Summer Cookie You Will Bake
- Total Time: 30 minutes active plus chilling
- Yield: 10 to 12 sandwich cookies 1x
Description
The most extraordinary Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies made by rubbing zest of 2 lemons into 100g caster sugar with fingertips until fragrant then creaming cold cubed 200g dairy-free block butter with lemon sugar and yellow food gel until pale and fluffy sifting in 300g plain flour and mixing to thick dough wrapping and refrigerating 40 minutes to 1 hour rolling to 1/2 inch on floured surface cutting into lemon ovals baking at 180°C fan for 10 to 12 minutes until golden cooling completely then filling with whipped lemon cream of 150g dairy-free butter 20g dairy-free cream cheese 200g sifted icing sugar 1 tsp lemon extract and lemon zest beaten 5 minutes until pale and fluffy piped and sandwiched with sugar-coated tops. A completely extraordinary vegan lemon sandwich cookie recipe.
Ingredients
100g Caster Sugar plus extra for coating tops
Zest of 2 Medium Lemons
200g Dairy-Free Block Butter cold and cubed
300g All-Purpose Plain Flour
1 drop Yellow Food Gel
150g Dairy-Free Butter for filling
20g Dairy-Free Cream Cheese
200g Icing Sugar sifted
1 tsp Pure Lemon Extract
Zest of 1 Lemon for filling
Fresh Mint Leaves for decoration optional
Instructions
1. Add caster sugar and lemon zest to bowl. Rub zest into sugar with fingertips until deeply fragrant.
2. Cream cold cubed dairy-free butter, yellow food gel, and lemon sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Sift in flour. Mix to thick dough.
4. Transfer to plastic wrap. Refrigerate 40 minutes to 1 hour until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C fan. Line baking tray with greaseproof paper.
6. Roll chilled dough on generously floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Cut into oval or lemon shapes with cookie cutter. Place on lined tray.
8. Bake middle of oven 10 to 12 minutes until golden at edges. Turn tray halfway through.
9. Cool slightly on tray. Transfer to wire rack. Cool completely.
10. For filling: whip dairy-free butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add sifted icing sugar, lemon extract, and zest. Whip high speed 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add dairy-free milk splash if too thick.
11. Transfer filling to piping bag with medium round tip.
12. Dip tops of half the cookies in caster sugar.
13. Pipe filling on flat side of remaining cookies. Press sugar-coated cookies on top. Add mint leaf if desired.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes plus 40 minutes chilling
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies, Vegan, Summer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 sandwich cookie
- Calories: 385
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 145mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: vegan lemon sandwich cookies, easy vegan lemon sandwich cookies recipe dairy free egg free lemon cream filling, best plant-based lemon sandwich cookies melt in mouth, vegan lemon shortbread sandwich cookies
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake Recipe The Most Easy Reduced Apple Cider Cream Cheese Swirl Brown Sugar Streusel Individual Fall Brunch Cake - September 29, 2026
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake The Most Easy Moist Reduced Apple Cider Sour Cream Butter Brown Sugar Streusel Cider Glaze Individual Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
- Apple Cider Cake Recipe The Most Easy Moist Bundt Reduced Apple Cider Oil Brown Sugar Cinnamon Nutmeg Apple Cider Glaze Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
