White Chocolate Lemon Cookies are everything! Inspired by Disney, these perfectly tart, soft and chewy lemon cookies are dipped in white chocolate for an unexpected treat you’ll want to make again and again.
For more Disneyland-inspired sweets, check out my recipes for Red’s Apple Freeze, Churro Toffee, and Galaxy’s Edge Blue Milk.
By now you probably know my family and I have an ever-growing obsession with Disneyland. We can’t help it! It’s so magical and it’s a place we all truly enjoy. I mean, what’s better than watching your kids’ faces light up with joy and wonder when they see their Disney heroes? Or watching them grin ear-to-ear as they anxiously wait in line for their favorite rides?
And of course, while we love the rides and shows and characters we also love the food at Disneyland. They really go above and beyond to create one-of-a-kind magical treats for their guests. While I’ve created copycat versions of Disneyland treats before, this white chocolate lemon cookie was solely inspired by the special little guy in my life — my 4-year-old son.
Whenever we go to Disneyland we make a beeline for the Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats shop in California Adventure to devour their It’s Snow Capped Lemon! cone. I mean, what beats lemon soft-serve ice cream dipped in white chocolate? Not much that’s for sure!
Since we are missing Disneyland so much right now, I developed a similar treat that we could enjoy at home: these tart lemon cookies dipped in white chocolate. I gave him one to eat right after dipping into the white chocolate and he took one bite and his whole face just lit up! At least we can still bring a bit of Disney into our houses, one bite at a time!
Here’s What You Need
- Butter
- Sugar divided
- Vanilla extract
- Lemons
- Lemon extract
- Egg
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- White chocolate chips
- Oil
Here’s How You Make These Cookies
- Do you have Mickey Mouse ears? How about a t-shirt with any Disney character on it? Okay put those on first to really get you in the spirit of making these cookies! It makes them taste even better, I swear!
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking pan or you can line your baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick baking mat.
- While the oven is heating, combine the butter and 1 cup of sugar in a large bowl. Cream 3-4 minutes til very light and fluffy. (I recommend using a mixer.) Then, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and egg and keep creaming all together until it’s completely incorporated.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the mixed together dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Roll the dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Use a cookie scoop to help you measure accurately. I made these rather large, so I used two small scoops per cookie ball. Roll each ball into the leftover ¼ cup of sugar and then put the balls about 3 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet.
- Pop them in the oven for about 9-11 minutes. Check at 9 minutes to make sure they are cooking the way you want. You don’t want them to be browned around the edges. They might look underdone, but they will continue to bake a little when you allow them to cool for about 10 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies are cooled off, mix together the white chocolate and oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chips and oil for 45 seconds, stir, and return the dish to the microwave for 20 seconds at a time — stirring after each 45-second cook — until the chips are completely melted and smooth.
- Take each cookie and dip it halfway into the chocolate, then place the cookie on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet or cooling rack. Allow them to cool all the way (popping them in the fridge for about 2-3 minutes will speed this up!) before serving or storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
Expert Tips and Customizations
The best part about these white chocolate lemon cookies is the customization. I mean, these cookies wouldn’t even exist if I hadn’t “customized” them myself with the Disneyland original in mind right?
- If you don’t want to dip the cookies in white chocolate, then why not just add the white chocolate chips right to the batter before baking? Just as delicious, I promise!
- If you don’t have fresh lemons to zest, you can use more lemon extract or lemon juice — start with ½ a teaspoon and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice respectively. Taste and add more if necessary.
- Instead of rolling these cookies in sugar before baking, you could also instead dust them in confectioner’s sugar before (or after) dipping.
- Crush some lemon-flavored hard candies very fine. And add ¼ cup to the batter before baking or dip the cookies into the chocolate THEN dust with hard candies. Talk about layers on layers on layers!
- If you like the idea of adding crushed lemon drops on top of the white chocolate, but don’t have any, you could also use yellow or rainbow sprinkles.
Best Lemon Recipes
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Servings: 12 cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking pan or line with parchment or a nonstick baking mat.
Combine butter and 1 cup of sugar in a large bowl. Cream 3-4 minutes til very light and fluffy.
Add vanilla, lemon zest, and egg and cream til completely incorporated.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix til just combined.
Roll into 12 balls (I used a small cookie scoop and did two scoops per cookie ball). Roll in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and place 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 9-11 minutes – they should not be brown around the edges when you take them out, they may look underdone – and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.
When cookies are completely cooled, combine white chocolate and oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir, return to microwave for 20 seconds at a time – stirring after each – until completely melted and smooth.
Dip cookies halfway in the chocolate and allow to cool (popping them in the fridge for about 2-3 minutes will speed this up!) before serving or storing in airtight container at room temperature.
*This makes a half-batch of cookies (12) and can easily be doubled for a full batch.
