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Pound cake cookies are everything you love about traditional pound cake, but in cookie form. These soft, delicate cookies are topped with a lemon glaze for a bright, delicious finish.
You know what is better than a slice of cake?
Well, almost nothing. But right up there is when you can turn a slice of cake into a cookie.
That’s what’s happening with these sweet little pound cake cookies. I love pound cake, don’t get me wrong, but it does take a while to bake.
But these cookies? I can mix together the dough and have them out of the oven in just about 30 minutes. What a win.
What are pound cake cookies?
If you love cream cheese pound cake, lemon cream cheese pound cake, or sour cream pound cake, you are pretty much guaranteed to adore these cookies.
These pound cake cookies are everything you love about a slice of pound cake packed into cookie form. They are soft, cakey cookies with a buttery flavor.
The cookies themselves also have lemon juice and lemon zest in the dough and are finished off with a lemony glaze, giving them a bright flavor that is incredible for spring.
I also love to top these sweet little cookies with sparkling sugar for a pretty finish.
And the best part about pound cake cookies is how quick and easy they are to make!
How to make pound cake cookies
Unlike pound cake which takes quite a long time to bake, you can have these pound cake cookies made and out of the oven in about half an hour!
Ingredients you’ll need
For the cookies themselves, you will need:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ⅔ cup softened unsalted butter
- 2 large
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. Having the correct amount of flour will help these pound cake cookies turn out perfect every time.
You also need to make sure your butter is softened. If you forget to set it out ahead of time, check out my tips for softening butter quickly.
And please, please make sure you use freshly squeezed lemon juice in these pound cake cookies! It tastes so much better than the bottled stuff and really will make a difference in the final cookies.
For the glaze, you will need:
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons milk
Super simple, right? But I promise, it adds so much flavor to these cookies!
Recipe Tip
When measuring powdered sugar, use the same fluff, scoop, and level method that you used for measuring your flour.
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To make the pound cake cookie dough, start by working the granulated sugar and the lemon zest together in a bowl. I like to use my fingertips to do this, but you could also use a fork.
This is a method I use a lot in recipes that call for citrus zest, such as lemon ricotta cookies and lemon blueberry bread. This extra step helps release the oils in the zest so that the flavor really infuses into every bite of the cookies.
Once the sugar is moist and fragrant from the lemon zest, add the butter and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. This will take at least 3 minutes.
If you aren’t sure why this step is important, check out my post on how to cream butter and sugar. It’s a foundational step that can make a big difference in your baked goods!
Next, add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla, mixing until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder, then slowly add this mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until the dough is just combined.
Use a medium (1.5 tablespoon) cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto lined baking sheets. Make sure to leave at least 2 inches between each cookie so they have room to spread in the oven.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. They’re done when the bottoms of the cookies are golden.
Let the pound cake cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies have fully cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk, then drizzle the glaze over the cookies. If you like, add a bit of sparkling sugar for an extra pretty finish.
Recipe variations
I adore citrus desserts, so I love the bright, lemony flavor of these pound cake cookies.
But don’t stop at lemon! Swap out the zest and juice for your own favorite citrus. Some delicious options to try include:
- Oranges
- Lime
- Key lime
- Grapefruit
You could also skip the citrus and try an almond version by adding some almond extract along with the vanilla in the cookie dough.
FAQs
Store the pound cake cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Because of their cakey texture, they don’t last as long as salted caramel pretzel cookies or almond crescent cookies, but I doubt you’ll have any trouble polishing them off within 3 days.
If you want to store the cookies for longer, turn to the freezer. I prefer to freeze them before glazing them, but you can freeze them with the glaze on them as well.
They will keep in the freezer for 1-2 months. They will thaw very quickly, so it’s easy to enjoy them whenever you get a pound cake cookie craving.
Pound Cake Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- lemon zest from one whole lemon
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
For the Glaze:
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons milk
- sparkling sugar for sprinkling optional
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In large bowl, stir together the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar becomes moist and fragrant.
- Add butter to the sugar and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, (1 1/2 tablespoons), scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets leaving 2 inches between each cookie dough ball.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden. Allow cookies to rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cookies have cooled completely, prepare the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and milk.
- Spoon or pipe glaze over cookies. If desired, immediately sprinkle cookies with sparkling sugar. Allow glaze to harden before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
To print one page all you have to do is scale the print job to 70%. Fits on one page perfectly.
My sister loves pound cake and her birthday is coming up. Do you think these will mail well?
Hi, Angela! Happy birthday to your sister! My only concern with mailing the cookies is the lack of refrigeration; I’m not sure they’d hold up during their travels. Maybe she would enjoy these Gooey Butter Cookies? I think they may travel a bit better. Let me know if I can help with anything else!
I wonder, do you think this could make a good base for black and white cookies? Those tend to be cake-like.
I’m not quite sure, but if you give it a try, I would love to know the results!
-Jamie
I still haven’t quite figured out the whole snapchat phenomenon. I finally downloaded & started following a few but still don’t get how to do my own! I feel like such an old lady!! I’ll get it… at some point! In the meantime, I NEED these cookies in my life. I had to re-read the title, Pound Cake Cookies?! I’m in! Pinned :)
What a great concept for a cookie. I’m not a huge fan of cakey cookies but pound cakes are much denser so I think I would love these!
I love pound cake and I would love to get my hands on these cute cookies!
These look so delicious! I will have to try to make them some day.
These cookies look awesome! I love hybrid desserts like these :)
Thanks so much, Medha!
I would really like the printed recipe to fit one page–a number of the bloggers I follow do that. I know more complicated recipes can’t make one page but I think a little change in layout would work for most items.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Cheryl. Unfortunately this recipe wasn’t one that we could fit on one page do the spacing of the directions. Have a great day!
-Jamie
these look delicious. the question i have is if you are adding say your pumpkin pie spice, what ingredient(s) would you omit/replace with? Thanks.
Robin-
I haven’t made them yet, but I would omit the lemon zest/juice add in some pumpkin pie spice and top with a vanilla glaze. :)
-Jamie